The Laughter of Magpies
by TheDVirus
Summary: Steve Rogers isn't convinced the Chitauri's designs on Earth are over so he goes to the only person who may be able to give him information. But Loki responds with a challenge of his own. Can anybody, even a super soldier, win a mind game against 'The God of Lies? Non pairing. Now has a sequel: 'To Tame a Magpie'.
1. Opening Move

It had been two days since the Chitauri invasion of New York and Steve Rogers couldn't sleep.

He turned in his blanket. Maybe it was the bed. He and the other newly christened 'Avengers' were staying in Stark Tower for the moment, out of the spotlight while the people of New York tried to get back to normality and Stark had given Steve what was apparently the 'best room in the house'. It came with a waterbed full of plastic goldfish and a mirror on the ceiling. Steve had accepted it graciously, despite his intuition telling him Stark had only given him the room for a joke but now staring at his tired looking face in the ceiling mirror, he wished he hadn't.

He didn't know whether it was a side effect of being frozen in ice or the residual adrenaline from the first real fight he had fought in for over sixty years but he just couldn't switch off.

They had stopped the invasion.  
Loki was in SHIELD custody awaiting extradition back to Asgard though by all accounts there wasn't going to be much of a trial when he got there. The helicarrier was being repaired. Heck, Steve had even filled out his paperwork and tactical report of the 'New York Incident' and handed it in on time like homework.

So then why didn't it feel like it was over?

Making a decision, Steve threw off his blankets and began to get dressed. The green numbers on his digital bedside clock showed 23.30. He was pretty confident he could find the place again, even though New York had changed so much.

The bookstore owner saluted as Steve entered but then tried in vain to disguise it as an adjustment of his glasses. Steve smiled at him. The SHIELD guard was young and his eager salute had reminded him of himself.

'It's ok son, I won't tell anybody', Steve said.

'Thank you sir', the guard said and clicked the button hidden beneath the counter. The bookshelves began to part the same way they had when Steve had first come here seventy years ago. He felt an odd combination of nostalgia and déjà vu as they finished moving. Behind them, a long passageway led to SHIELD's hidden base.

'Sir?' the guard piped up as Steve began to move past him, 'My mother was in central station. Just-I-Thank you'.

'No problem', Steve smiled, 'At ease soldier'.

The guard retook his position as the bookshelves closed behind Steve.

He exhaled. It was amazing how much he got thanked for just doing what any other human being would've done in his place. It made him uncomfortable.

There weren't usually many guards in the bookshop base but Steve counted salutes from seven separate guards as he walked down the hallway leading to the room in which he'd first become Captain America. In the interim, the bookshop had been mostly used as a storage facility for classified records. It was only yesterday that the store's designation had been officially changed to 'Detention Centre'.

Steve descended the stairs to the 'lab' and saw it now held an entire wall of monitors. The top layer showed the bookshop from various angles and the street outside. The next showed the corridors around the base and the interiors of various rooms. The last row held the monitors that Steve wanted.

As he approached, the security officer leapt up from his chair and saluted. Steve returned the salute.

'With respect sir, what are you doing here?' the officer asked.

'What's your name soldier?'

'Donoghue sir'.

'Couldn't sleep Donoghue. How are things?'

'All quiet on the western front', Donoghue remarked but then, realising what he had said, tried to backtrack, 'Sorry sir! I didn't mean-'.

'Don't worry about it', Steve insisted, waving a hand, 'Good movie'.

'Yes sir', Donoghue said, visibly relaxing, 'He's been quiet enough though it's creepy the way he looks at the camera sometimes'.

There was no point asking who 'he' was.

'He knows it's there?' Steve asked.

'Director Fury didn't think we needed to hide it. He wants him to know it's there'.

'Only one camera?'

'Only one visible. Plenty hidden in the walls'.

'You have a visual log of the entire day?'

'Yes sir. Interview logs kept separate of course'.

'Interview logs?'

'Yes sir. Couple of people wanted to talk to him. You wanna see the records?'

'Isn't that a breach of security?'

'Director Fury said all Grade S personnel are allowed access sir. Same with the cell'

'Grade S?'

'For 'super' sir', Donoghue said with an unimpressed look, 'It was some guy named Coulson's idea'.

Steve felt a pang of sadness at the name. Without Coulson, there wouldn't have been any Avengers. Heck, there might not even be a New York. Quashing the possibilities beginning to swim around inside his head, he asked, 'You due for a break Donoghue?'

'Am I sir?' Donoghue asked.

'Yes you are but before you go, could you bring up those interview records for me please?' Steve asked, unable to keep a sheepish look from his face. Modern technology was something else: he was still getting used to CDs and apparently they were 'on the way out'.

'Already up on screen sir', Donoghue said, graciously ignoring Steve's discomfort as he clicked a couple of buttons on the console, 'Click play when you're ready. Just to warn you, the sound goes screwy near the start. They haven't been able to fix it yet'.

'Why not? I thought SHIELD had plenty of engineers'.

'We do but most are working on the helicarrier or helping with cleaning up the city', Donoghue replied, counting change from the pocket of his combats, 'Gonna be tomorrow before one of them can come down here'.

'Is it that hard to fix a few microphones?' Steve genuinely asked.

'It is if a god of thunder's done something to them sir. Besides they also want the engineers to check the machine'.

'What machine?'

'No idea what it is but it made his lordship mighty nervous when he saw it sittin' in the room', Donoghue said, gesturing to the monitor, 'So pretty sure it's a good thing for us'.

Steve nodded.

'Dismissed soldier', he said.

As Donoghue walked away in search of the base's coffee machine, Steve took a seat and clicked the play icon for the first interview.

The video opened. According to the date in the upper left corner, it had been recorded that morning at 9am.

Loki's cell was glass fronted and boasted a bed and a chair as its only pieces of furniture. Someone (likely Stark) had covered the bed with a statue of liberty cover. Despite the cell's 'normal' appearance, Steve had heard Stark boast how he had helped redesign it quickly to accommodate their 'abnormal' guest. The glass was the very same that had been used to create the holding cell on the helicarrier. There was no need to reinforce the walls: they were at least three levels underground. The room was painted bright white with every corner illuminated. There was nothing outside the cell save for a strange kind of machine Steve thought it must be the machine the guard had been talking about. Large and block shaped, it squatted against the wall. It had strange indentations etched around a circular button set into the top of it. Steve had no idea what the machine was but that was nothing new. He assumed it had something to do with the floor of the cell which was see through, showing a complex network of wires that seemed to be glowing. Steve thought it might be to stop Loki tapping into his 'abilities' since Donoghue had said he had been 'nervous' when he had seen it.

When Steve had called Loki's abilities 'magic' earlier that day in a conversation with Banner, Stark had annoyed him by giving an amused snort.

Banner had explained what Loki could do was more like 'weird science' before Stark had cut him off asking Steve if he had seen the movie 'Weird Science' citing it as an inspiration to him.

Loki seemed to be wearing the same clothes he had been wearing during the battle for New York but Steve knew this couldn't really be the case.

Loki's personal effects had been confiscated when he had been locked up. One agent who had been in charge of categorizing the items had nearly lost an eye when he had accidentally pressed a button concealed in one of Loki's gauntlets and a hidden blade had been launched from the wrist. Another had been examining a pendant Loki had had in one of his pockets when it had spontaneously shattered and caused second degree burns to the man's face. After that, Thor had taken over supervision and the casualty rate had not increased.

Steve could see Thor was Loki's visitor. He was carrying Mjolnir with him and was in his full armour, despite Stark lending him (in his words) 'hipper' clothes. Even locked up, he wasn't taking any chances with his brother.

'You will be taken back to Asgard next week', Thor said, 'We have decided to allow SHIELD time to study you so they may better understand Asgardians'.

'Very generous of you', Loki sniped but then gave an unpleasant smile, 'I'm sure they'll learn a lot about _Asgardians_ by studying _me_ '.

Steve picked up on the unpleasant insinuation in Loki's words but didn't understand its origin. Thor gave no indication he had heard anything of the sort.

'I have negotiated exercise time for you outside this cell but you will be under armed guard at all times'.

Loki scoffed.

'They will be carrying the same guns that son of Coul used on you', Thor said with a humourless smile, 'and many of your assigned guards were his friends'.

'There is only one of those guns', Loki said, sneer fading.

'Not any more. Escape attempts would be very unwise', Thor concluded.

Loki shrugged.

'Is this the part where I say thank you?' he snapped.

Thor shook his head and turned to leave.

'Does father send his love?' Loki called after him.

Steve was disappointed when Thor took the bait.

'Mother does', Thor replied stiffly.

'How sweet', Loki sneered, 'Has she put some welcome flowers in my cell in Asgard for me?'

Thor whipped back around.

'You will be lucky if you get a cell. You'll be Fortune's favoured son if you keep your head'.

'At least I'll be someone's favoured son', Loki quipped.

Steve shook his head: the same old schtick and Thor was falling for it.

'Do not start that again!' Thor snapped.

'It never ended _Odinson_ ', Loki spat, drawing out the name like a curse.

Thor jabbed a finger at Loki. Steve realised there was a low hum coming from the video: a distinct rumble that was growing louder as Thor spoke.

'Do not test me. Do you not realise your sick pride nearly destroyed the Earth?'

'Really?' Loki asked, eyes wide in mock surprise, 'I thought it was Mars. I wasn't going to destroy earth. I was going to rule it'.

The rumbling was growing louder and Steve noticed a faint shaking distorting the video feed. He suddenly realised what it reminded him of: clouds gathering before a storm.

'And when you'd had your fill of playing the could-be king, then what?' Thor demanded.

'Well, then I'd destroy it', Loki said off-handedly, as if the move would be the most obvious one in the world, 'I've already done it once brother. What makes you think I didn't enjoy it?'

Static suddenly crackled loudly on the video followed by the emptiness of dead air.

Steve checked the volume and saw it hadn't changed but then remembered what Donoghue had said.

Thor had inadvertently blown out the sound.

Looking back to the main video feed, he saw strange sparks flicker across the screen and a light bulb blew above Thor's head.

Loki had a smile on his face.

As Steve watched, Loki's form blurred.

At first he thought it was an effect of Thor's anger but then realised Loki had changed shape.

It took Steve a moment to recognise the woman. He had seen her in the personnel files Fury had given him to read. Jane Foster, a physicist who had helped Thor in New Mexico. The static field built into the floor didn't react putting an end to Steve's 'magic/weird science suppression' theory.

Thor gave a start at the change.

'Jane' pressed 'her' body against the glass and leaned forward making a face that (if the real Jane Foster did make a face anything like it) was usually made in the privacy of a bedroom.

Thor pointed Mjolnir threateningly at the glass as he shouted silently at his brother. Another lightbulb blew and the machine in the corner of the room gave a brief but noticeable flicker. As did the illumination on the wires beneath Loki's feet.

Suddenly Nick Fury entered the picture and apparently unconcerned with the atmospheric (not to mention the emotional) tension, had a quiet word in Thor's ear.

Thor made as if to shake him off but looking at Fury's face, seemed to think better of it. Turning on his heel he left, cape billowing behind him.

Loki blew them both a kiss as he dropped the illusion, becoming himself again.

Fury didn't look at Loki once.

As the record abruptly ended, Steve was surprised to see two more records from the same day.

He clicked the second one open.

He watched Clint Barton storm into the room.

Loki didn't look at him. He sat on the bed impassively facing the opposite wall.

From Clint's body language and his sharp gesturing, he was in the middle of a full blown rant. Steve skipped ahead. No point watching it if there wasn't any sound. Judging from the timer, Clint had berated Loki for ten minutes. Steve could guess what about. Loki didn't react to Clint's presence at all. Steve clicked play when he noticed Clint stop.

For a moment neither man moved.

Then Loki turned his head, lifted a hand, cupped it around his ear and shook his head mockingly.

 _Can't hear you._

Clint pounded both fists on the glass and stomped out of the room.

Loki coldly watched him go.

The file stopped and Steve clicked the final icon.

This 'interview' had taken place three hours later and Loki's visitor evidently expected to be there for a while.

Bruce Banner had brought in a chair with him.

Unfolding it, he settled down and leaned forward, arms resting on the top of his legs.

Once again Loki didn't turn round. He simply stared at the wall.

Only the gentle movements of Banner's head and hands signalled to Steve that he was speaking.

He stopped after a couple of sentences each time, probably to give Loki space to respond.

No reaction from the prisoner.

Eventually, Banner rubbed his neck with the back of hand and packed up his chair. Loki threw Banner's retreating back a venomous glance as the record ended.

Steve turned off the monitor and rubbed his eyes.

What had he learned?

The most obvious thing was that Loki couldn't be approached aggressively. His ego and the situation he was in meant trying to threaten him was a waste of energy. The next thing was Loki got a kick out of making people angry. Fittingly, Bruce, the one with the tightest control on his anger, had chosen the right approach but past experience had worked against him. Loki was not going to forget their encounter anytime soon. Finally, Loki was a talker. Stark had said he was a diva; someone who liked it when people paid attention. Makes sense he'd enjoy showing off how clever he was. The trick was getting him to talk in the first place.

Steve got up and checked he still had some cash in his pocket. Detecting a couple of dollar bills, he headed for the stairs once he heard Donoghue returning, coffee in hand.  
His mother had always said you caught more flies with sugar than vinegar. And this was one big bug.

Loki turned at the sound of the heavy metal door opening.  
Who would it be this time?  
The woman? Stark?  
As he turned, he had to hide his surprise.

Steve noticed Loki's split second frown of confusion and inwardly congratulated himself.  
He took another bite of the jelly doughnut, the bag hanging from one arm as he unfolded a chair with the other.  
Once it was set up, Steve sat down, placing the bag beside him.  
Loki didn't say anything but watched him carefully.  
Steve finished the doughnut and reached for the bag.  
Pretending to notice Loki for the first time, Steve stood up and offered the bag to the glass.  
Loki peered inside the bag and his lip curled.  
'Poisoned pastries', he sneered, 'I must give the cyclops credit: it's certainly an imaginative form of torture'.  
'Fury didn't send me', Steve said, 'and I don't think giving you a doughnut is gonna hurt planetary security. Here'.  
Walking over to a hatch in the wall, Steve pressed a button. It slid open, revealing a metal tray on a conveyor belt. Steve took a doughnut out and put it on the platform. He closed and locked the hatch then pressed the second button set into the wall.  
A hatch on Loki's side of the glass slid open.  
Loki's eyes flicked to it then back to Steve, who was starting on his second doughnut. He waved it at the hatch as an invitation. Loki stalked over to the hatch and took the doughnut. He examined it critically and gave it a sniff.  
It reminded Steve of the mangy mutts he used to see skulking down alleys when he'd been young. Food usually won them over. Hopefully it would do the same here.  
'I won't tell anyone you took it', Steve said.  
Obviously indignant that Steve thought he was nervous, Loki took a bite. He finished it before Steve was halfway through his own.  
'What'd you think?' Steve asked.  
'Better than the swill they've been feeding me', Loki commented, licking his fingers clean.  
'Heck of a compliment coming from you', Steve said, polishing his own off.  
'Well it's all you'll get', Loki said smugly, 'Just like all the other would-be interrogators'.  
'I don't believe in the no win scenario', Steve said, wiping his hands on a napkin.  
'Just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I'm living proof of that', Loki said dryly.  
'I'm not an interrogator', Steve offered, 'I just want to talk'.  
Loki didn't buy it.  
'No', he said, shaking his head as he paced, 'There's more to it than that. Every single person in this city would happily slit my throat, set me on fire or shoot me. In this building alone, some would love to do all three. Their so called 'morals' are the only things stopping them. Well, that and fear of retribution. And yet, Captain America, the 'living legend', freedom, truth and justice incarnate, wants to 'talk' to me'.  
Loki leant against the glass, his arm beneath his forehead.  
'It's like a bad joke', he grumbled.  
Steve waited patiently for Loki to finish extolling before explaining.  
'I keep reading about these tyrants. Hitler was still just a man when I went under, not a guy most people now consider the greatest monster of the 20th century. He wasn't even the last one. I've read all about Stalin, Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi though those names probably don't mean anything to you'.  
Loki shrugged and Steve leaned forward, hands cupped.  
'Now I've got a tyrant in front of me who isn't going anywhere. I guess I'm just curious what makes you guys tick. Why you think your ideas and your wishes are more important than anybody else. I also have a nasty feeling that this thing with the Chitauri isn't over. That's why I want to talk to you'.  
Loki gave a humourless laugh.  
'You want to know how monsters are created and if there are more on the way? Admirable but what makes you think I'll tell you?'  
'Has anyone else come to see you apart from me?' Steve asked.  
'Nobody worth talking to', Loki dismissed, 'Though it was amusing to see Barton squirm'.  
'You can't blame him for taking the mind control personally', Steve said, trying not to be irritated at Loki's obvious sadistic glee.  
'I don't', Loki said in a distinctly facetious tone, 'Just as he can't blame me for his weak heart and brain. They appear to be traits of your species. Except for Stark who seems to have rather sensibly upgraded himself'.  
'He doesn't see it that way', Steve said.  
'You're very focused on how things appear aren't you?' Loki asked, crossing his arms, 'How people see things?'  
'I told you, I like to understand different points of view. Helps people learn about themselves'.  
'Hoping I'll teach you a lesson of some kind?' Loki scowled, 'Come to my side of the glass then'.  
'Think the Hulk already tried teaching you humility', Steve said bluntly, 'but by the looks of things it didn't stick'.  
Loki's scowl deepened. Steve momentarily worried he'd pushed too far but then the scowl vanished.  
'Let's play a game', Loki said.  
'What kind of game?' Steve said, intrigued despite his wariness at Loki's spontaneous forthcoming mood.  
'I call it 'Magpie'. I'll tell you a story and you tell me if it's true when I finish. You guess correctly, say best of seven, and I'll tell you what you want to know'.  
'Gonna be a challenge since you're the 'god of lies' and all'.  
'I thought you didn't believe in the 'no win scenario'?' Loki said, raising an eyebrow, 'Besides, lies have their uses. You know that'.  
'I don't know what you mean'.  
'USO shows are lies. Recruitment posters are lies. The 'good fight' is a lie', Loki leered, 'And the biggest lie of all? 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori''.  
Steve was taken aback for a moment despite the personal attack. He recognised the phrase from a First World War poem.  
'How do you know about that?' he asked.  
He noticed Loki's disappointment he hadn't gotten a rise out of him. For a 'trickster' the guy sure wasn't good at hiding his emotions.  
'I read', Loki deadpanned, 'Something that did little to endear me to my fellows on Asgard'.  
Sensing Loki was about to begin the game, Steve played along.  
'They're not big readers huh?'  
'Are we going to play then?' Loki asked, sitting down on his bed.  
'Your move', Steve said, keen to begin.  
Before Loki could begin however, an alarm began to blare and the lights in the cell darkened to red.  
Steve turned his head at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs leading to the cell.  
Loki smirked.  
'Don't you know you're not supposed to be down here after visiting hours?'  
'Door wasn't locked', Steve shrugged and turned to head outside, picking up the doughnut bag as he went.  
'Come back tomorrow', he heard Loki call, 'If you're not facing a court martial'.

'What the hell do you think you were doin' down there?!' Nick Fury demanded, throwing himself into a leather chair with Steve facing him, a large mahogany desk between them.  
The room was Fury's office on the rare occasion he had cause to visit the small base. As such it was devoid of personal effects save for a metal SHELD logo built into the wall.

'Questioning a prisoner of war for the purposes of information', Steve responded mechanically.

'By givin' him Krispy Kreme?' Fury asked, 'What makes you think you can believe anything he says?'

'I know prisoners tend to be more cooperative when they know they're not going to be tortured or verbally abused'.

'That man down there is guilty of attempted genocide for no better excuse than his daddy didn't love him and you wanna play 'good cop bad cop'?'

Steve didn't respond.

'Loki is not a prisoner of war', Fury stated coolly, 'He's a war criminal and probably the most dangerous man in this building which, need I remind you, is full of highly trained shield agents and your good self'.

'What does the weird machine do?' Steve asked.

Fury sighed at the obvious change of subject but answered the question.

'It's not Hydra tech if that's what you're worried about. It's Asgardian. We just painted it black to make it not stand out. Those folks love their gold finish. Thor says it's designed to restrict Loki's ability to cause trouble'.

'It doesn't stop illusions or shape changing?'

'Stops him causing physical damage only. Neither it or I care what the guy looks like as long as he's not vaporizing SHIELD personnel. Now if he turns into a dragon and tries to bust his way out, that's different. That little beauty'll zap him with so much electricity he'll wish his brother was beatin' him to a pulp. Not enough to kill an Asgardian but enough to make him think what a stupid ass decision he's made just before he's rendered unconscious'.

'Explains the lack of guards', Steve said.

'Had quite a few volunteers actually but I'd rather not have him taunting an angry earthling with a loaded gun who might actually decide to do something with it. Asgard wants him delivered alive'.

'What exactly am I in trouble for?' Steve asked.

'Going in after visiting hours without a briefing', Fury said, 'You woulda liked it; it's full of useful information like, for instance, what the 'weird machine' does. Also on a side note, I happen to like Krispy Kreme and two days ago he was trying to wipe 'em from the face of the earth. Understand?'

'Understood'.

'Now, were you goin' in there to appeal to his better nature like Banner, threaten him like Thor or just swear at him like Barton?' Fury asked, counting the options off on his fingers, 'Because he thinks all those routines are hilarious'.

'I was just going to ask him some questions'.

'About what?'

'You and I both know Loki isn't the one we should be worried about'.

Fury didn't say anything but waved a hand, inviting him to continue.

'You know that invasion force was too small to take the entire planet. And Loki obviously has no real loyalty to them because he hasn't tried to escape', Steve theorised, 'What if this invasion was just a test with him as the fall guy?'

'Stark said there were more on the way on the other side of the portal', Fury interjected, 'A whole fleet he said'.

'They must've known their forces were under attack', Steve countered, 'Why didn't they rush to help? Or at least get through the portal as fast as they could? Even if the bomb worked, there's no guarantee there aren't more on the way'.

'If that's the case what makes you think Loki knows anything useful? It's not like they've tried to rescue him'.

'Because he's got a bad habit of getting into places he shouldn't'.

'You think he's gonna spill the beans to you?'

'We've all seen what he's capable of when his blood's up. It shouldn't take very much to convince him to talk'.

Fury adjusted himself in his chair and drummed his fingers on the desk.

'Thor's not gonna like this', he said reflectively.

'Do you think he'd have better luck talking to him again?' Steve asked.

'He already tried', Fury said with finality.

'I saw. What did you say to him anyway?'

'Had to ask him to leave. All that electrical interference nearly shorted out the security system. Loki's plan no doubt'.

'Loki knows how to get under his skin'.

'It's what little brothers do', Fury said, leaning back in his chair, palms together, 'I just hope you can get inside his head. Watch it though, seems like a dangerous place. You got a week Captain'.

Fury began sorting a pile of documents on the desk into piles, signalling the conversation was over. But Steve had realised something in the progress of the conversation.

'You were going to let me keep talking to him anyway weren't you?'

'As long as it's within visiting hours: that's 4pm to 6.30pm', Fury said without looking up, 'Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing'.

'And?'

'I'm quietly confident', Fury said, then stressed, ' _Very_ quietly'.

Steve nodded and got up. He stopped as he turned to leave and placed the bag containing the single doughnut remaining on Fury's desk before exiting the room.


	2. Sorrow

The next night, Steve made sure to go to the bookshop during the 'visiting hours' Fury had specified.  
He didn't bring any doughnuts (also as agreed).  
As he went down the stairs leading to the lab, he saw a woman sitting with a female SHIELD agent. She was weeping and shaking.  
Concerned that Loki had most likely had something to do with it, Steve entered the sterile cell.  
Loki was sitting on the bed but rose as Steve came in.  
Steve saw a chair had already been set up in front of the glass wall but had been knocked over.  
He righted it and he took a seat.

'I hope you're better prepared than she was' Loki asked, taking a position so he was standing directly opposite Steve.

'Did you have something to do with that woman's distress?' Steve asked, though he already knew the answer.

Loki smiled. Steve was starting to hate that smile.

'She's one of those 'mew tonts'' Loki said, testing the sound of the unfamiliar word, 'They thought she could see inside my mind and tell what I was thinking. Apparently they don't agree with your approach'.

'What did you do?'

'I can't read minds but I know how to keep people out of mine', Loki said dismissively, examining his nails.

Steve's stomach twisted angrily at Loki's callous pride. He took a deep calming breath, conscious Loki was watching him for any sign of outrage. He refused to give Loki control of the situation: if he got angry he was on Loki's turf.

'You didn't have to do that. She wasn't a threat to you', he said seriously.

'They thought she was. She thought she was. I proved them wrong', Loki shrugged.

'Speaking of proving people wrong, I have a question', Steve said, 'Why do we have to play a game?'

'I like games' Loki said simply, 'I like to win'.

'How does the game work exactly?' Steve asked, 'You were kinda vague before'.

'I will tell you a seven stories', Loki elaborated, 'Each one corresponds to the Magpie rhyme'.

'You mean like 'one for sorrow, two for gold'?' Steve interrupted.

Loki nodded and concluded 'Once I'm finished each one, tell me what was true and what was false in the story'.

'Okay. Shoot', Steve invited.

Loki began.

'On Asgard, stories are mostly told through word of mouth at large gatherings. Good stories get requested so they get repeated with inevitable embellishments. Stories that are written down are valued but seen as stale and unmoving because they never change.  
It is a custom in Asgard that when we are visited from dignitaries from Alfheim, we-'

'Alfheim? Is that another planet?'

Irritated at the second interruption of the night, Loki rolled his eyes.

'I sometimes forget how limited your concept of the universe is. Do forgive me'.

'No problem', Steve said breezily and was rewarded with another annoyed look from the prisoner.

'Alfheim is the home of the, well, I suppose you would call them something unimaginative, let's say 'light elves'. They are handsome (though not as handsome as they think), talented magicians and very traditional. Now as I was saying, it is tradition in Asgard that when their dignitaries visit, a grand feast is held and one of the stories celebrating a joint Alfheim-Asgardian victory is told. On this particular occasion I was chosen to tell the story the dignitaries had chosen due to Thor being…otherwise occupied'.

'With what?'

'At the time I believe it was a pretty young lady named Hilda', Loki said with disgust, 'Though it became taxing to keep track after a while'.

'What age were you?'

'This age', Loki said and his form blurred.

Loki, much like his adult form, had been one scrawny kid. His short, black hair was messy, sticking up in odd places and a vivid bruise marked his right eye.

'What's with the bruise?'

'Despite my proclivities for stealth and subtlety I was never one to back down from a fight', Loki said, gesturing to himself, 'This is an accurate representation of how I looked at the time. Now, I had been given the story weeks in advance of the feast so dedicated every free moment to learning it word for word. Within three days of being given the script, I could recite it flawlessly'.

Loki's smile faded as he continued.

'I remember Thor mocking me for reading those 'old dead books' and recommending I let him take over. I refused, all the more determined to succeed.  
The night of the feast, I stood up, all eyes on me and the delegates named the story they wanted.  
It was not the story I had learnt.  
Naturally I protested (earning my father's displeasure by speaking out of turn) but before I could say more, Thor stood up and elbowed me aside.  
Then he began to tell the required story. Despite all his claims of laziness and hatred of learning, he had learnt it. So he could outshine me'.

Steve thought it was weirdly off putting seeing such bitterness in such a young face. Loki continued his story through gritted teeth.

'The delegates applauded Thor and I stepped down from the stage.  
As I passed the Alfheim delegation, I heard them remark that Odin didn't need a spare; they had been blessed with the perfect son the first time round.  
They didn't even whisper.  
I know my father heard them. He did nothing.  
So I resolved to do something.  
I was able to slip out easily: all eyes were on Thor who had decided to spice up the retelling by adding (what he no doubt thought were amusing) sound effects.  
It was equally easy to locate the iron shavings lying on the castle blacksmith's floor.  
An interesting fact I had happened upon while doing research for the visit was that the 'light elves' have a rather severe allergic reaction to iron. Amazing what you can learn from 'dead old books''.

'There's that smile again', Steve thought.  
Loki was obviously relishing the memory.

'Slipping into the kitchens, I put some shavings into their mead', Loki leered, 'By the next morning I was the one laughing.  
No more diplomats.  
The lesson here is that a quick mind can cut as swiftly as a knife and cruel words deeper still. Both are blades I have honed keenly.  
Now tell me soldier: Truth or lie?'

Steve considered the story.  
Loki paced slowly, eyes never leaving Steve.

'Most of its true', Steve said, finally making his decision.

'Explain', Loki said, giving no indication of whether the answer was correct or not.

'It's the first round. From a strategic standpoint, you're mostly telling the truth because then no matter what you say after this you can say the first story was mostly true', Steve said, 'And the way you talked about how you felt...'

'What about it?' Loki pressed when Steve trailed off.

Steve didn't know how to continue. He wasn't about to tell Loki that he knew that feeling of helplessness and mockery. Not to mention the uncanny resemblance between Kid Loki's build and his own formerly weak body.

'It rang true', Steve said with finality, 'The lie was about you poisoning them. You're not reckless. If you poisoned them you'd be suspect number one and it would probably have triggered a war'.

Loki clapped slowly and nodded.

'Not a very good lie', Steve appraised.

Loki held up his hands.

'It's only the first round', he said, 'Come back tomorrow for the next one'.

'Why not go again right away?' Steve asked.

'Stories need time to be digested'.

'Okay then. I guessed right. Now, hold up your end of the bargain'.

Kid Loki laughed and crossed his arms.

'It's so interesting that you actually expect me to'.

'It doesn't help you if you don't', Steve shrugged, 'No point in me playing your game if there's no incentive'.

'Very well. The fight is not over', Loki pronounced as he resumed his usual shape, 'Is that enough of an incentive for you? Give my regards to the young lady on the way out'.

Loki flopped back down on the bed and conjured a rubber ball out of thin air. He began to throw it up in the air and catch it one handed.  
Steve took the hint and left.

He saw Clint Barton leaning against the wall as he came up.

'Cap', the archer nodded.

'Barton' Steve acknowledged, 'Headache gone?'

'Yeah. Finally. Thanks. Fury told me what you're trying to do. Thought I'd come see for myself'.

'Haven't gotten anything specific yet but at least he's talking', Steve said.

'As if he's got anything worthwhile to say', Barton grumbled.

'I saw what happened when you went in', Steve said.

'You did?' Barton said, rubbing his neck, 'Yeah, not my finest moment but I needed to get some things off my chest'.

'Did it help?'

'I'll feel better when he's out of here', Barton said, shooting a distasteful look at the door leading to the cell, 'Don't like having a rabid dog in the house. I'm pushing for a muzzle for his trip home'.

'Got any advice?'

'Nothing you don't know already. He actually talked to you?'

'I didn't get anything about the Chitauri. He mostly talked about-'

'Himself?' Barton cut in, 'He does that. A lot'

'It's all information', Steve shrugged.

'I remember when the government was supposed to dissect aliens' Clint muttered darkly.

'Including Thor?' Steve asked raising an eyebrow.

'No!' Barton snapped, realising the implications of what he had said, 'That's not what I meant! I don't even know why I said that!'

'Residual effects of mind control?' Steve offered as Barton stepped away from the wall.

He fell into step beside Steve.

'Maybe but pretty sure it's just plain old fashioned hatred', Barton grumbled, 'Still I think I'm gonna take a coupla days before we have to see him off. Not like he's going anywhere'.

'Wait a second', Steve said.

Barton nodded as he noticed what had attracted Steve's attention. The woman Loki had spoken to was still hunched in her chair. The other SHIELD agent had resorted to just keeping her hand on her shoulder. She looked up protectively but relaxed when she recognised Steve.

'Are you alright ma'am?' Steve asked the woman.  
Loking up to identify who was speaking to her, the woman's eyes widened.

'You're-' she gasped.

'Steve please', Steve said gently.

Her hands shook as she nursed a full cup of coffee.

'I'm fine' she said with a weak smile, 'Nothing I can't handle'.

'I understand if you don't wanna answer but could you tell me what happened?'

'I tried to read his mind and – '

Her composure snapped.

'It hurt', she gasped, voice cracking, 'It hurt so much! Strange creatures like metal dragons flying in the darkness. There was someone there, on a throne and he was smiling then it was cold but I was burning and I was falling and the darkness was in my eyes and my mouth - Oh God!'

She began to give weeping groans and dropped the cup, covering her face with her hands.

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry I can't talk about it! I just can't!' she croaked.

'It's okay. It's okay', Steve reassured but the woman was inconsolable.

'I was stupid! I wasn't strong enough! He's right! I'm weak! Useless!'

The other agent moved between the woman and Steve.

'With respect Captain, Agent Kelso shouldn't be upset any further', she said sternly.

Steve nodded.

'Of course. Thank you'.

Steve returned to Barton's side. The archer's face could have curdled milk.

'Why did Fury send her in there?' Steve asked quietly.

'Agent Kelso volunteered', Barton said, the anger at Loki's treatment of his colleague plain on his face, 'She wanted the chance to show people mutants care just as much about New York, especially if they live there'.

'What happened?'

'Record should be over here', Barton said, gesturing to the console.

At Barton's words, the SHIELD agent began to lever Kelso out of the chair, supporting her with her shoulder as she began to walk her away, obviously wanting to spare her any further stress. As Barton located the record and pressed play, Steve noticed the sound had been fixed.

Agent Kelso entered the frame of the video and Loki stood up at her approach.

'Hello Loki', she said, 'My name is Agent Kelso. I'm a psychiatrist with SHIELD. I'd like to ask you a few questions'

'Spare me' Loki snarled.

Steve knew the hostile attitude was obviously because Loki didn't believe she was someone worth talking to. But then why talk at all? Why not just ignore her like he had done with Barton or Banner?

'I must warn you that your cooperation is expected', Kelso said.

Steve winced at the authoritative tone in her voice. That was gonna rub Loki the wrong way.  
Loki's derivative scoff confirmed his suspicions.

'I must also warn you that I have the authority to ensure your cooperation if you refuse', Kelso continued.

'You have the authority, but do you have the power?' Loki asked tauntingly.

Steve knew the outcome of the ensuing confrontation but still felt unease twist his stomach.

'Yes. I do', Kelso affirmed, obviously annoyed at Loki's lack of respect.

'Show me', Loki said, leaning forward.

'Are you refusing to cooperate?' Kelso said, rising from the chair.

'Strange how my cooperation may be expected but it's not what you really want', Loki leered.

Steve saw Kelso raise her hand to her eye level, almost as if she was saluting.  
Loki gave a strange shiver and shook his head. No doubt Kelso had just tried to use her powers.  
Loki laughed, eyes closed. He raised a hand of his own.  
It reminded Steve of a psychic trying to tell someone their future.

'Oh I see!' Loki cried in obvious glee.

Steve could sense Kelso's confusion in her stance even as she maintained her pose.

'What you want is a fight? Very well', Loki said.

He cricked his neck and cracked his knuckles.

'Let's have one', Loki grinned as what looked like strange green static suddenly erupted around his body.

The effect on Kelso was instantaneous. She gasped and stumbled, knocking over the chair as she swiped at invisible enemies.

'Stop it! Stop it!' she yelled.

'You presume to intimidate me girl?' Loki snarled, all traces of humour gone.

'Stop! I'm sorry!' Kelso screamed, tears starting to stream down her cheeks.

'That you made a bad decision? I believe you', Loki mocked, eyes hungrily following Kelso's distress.

'You're hurting me!' Kelso cried as she braced her back against the wall. Her eyes were wide: terrified at whatever she was seeing.

'You think this is hurting?' Loki sniffed derisively, 'I wonder what your basis for comparison is'.

Kelso screamed and sank to her knees. She bowed her head in abject defeat as she knelt, hands clasped over her ears. She was trembling violently, the whimpers piteous to hear.

'She's learnt her lesson. Have you?' Loki said, turning deliberately to the camera, 'Soldier?'

Steve could feel his heartbeat pounding in his ears and could sense Barton's alarm at the subliminal anger he was projecting. He glared at the screen.  
That was why Loki hadn't ignored Kelso. The idea that Loki had designed this as a private demonstration for him galled him. His stomach twisted in knots: Loki hadn't said anything about it when they were talking.  
It was meant to be a sick surprise.

'What lesson?' Barton asked.

Loki's words from their meeting in Germany swam in Steve's head like a shark rising to the surface.

 _You will always kneel._

Steve punched the wall so hard cracks spread across the clean white surface. Barton took a step back: the sight of the usually mellow soldier startling him.

'Not while I'm around', Steve promised Loki silently, 'And not before you do'.


	3. Joy

Nick Fury beckoned Steve over as he entered the lab the next night.

'We need to know what he's capable of', Fury said in a low voice, 'I don't want any more of my people shipped off to the funny farm because he looks at 'em weird'.

'He used some kind of shield spell', Steve said, 'If it wasn't it would've set off the electric field'.

'Frankly I don't care what it was. What I care about is the effect it had on Agent Kelso'.

'What are you going to do about it?'

'Here's what _'we'_ are gonna do about it Cap. Despite my objections, Thor has insisted Loki gets some exercise and since my superiors don't wanna take the risk of offending the 'nice' Asgardians, I've been forced to agree. We're gonna take the opportunity to gather data on Loki's physical attributes. He'll be under guard at all times. Problem is, the room we'll be usin' isn't shielded'.

'Why not?'

'We hadn't intended to give Loki access to any other rooms and couldn't secure a second forcefield machine. Attempts to negotiate another one from the Asgardians are…ongoing'.

'Where do I come in?'

'I want you in there with him. You're the only one he responds to. Lucky you'.

'Is Thor okay with this?'

'Thor's on site and on side. He's doing the exercises in another part of the base for comparison purposes. We can't have them in the same room: Loki sees him, it'll go badly. We won't get the data we need and I'm not sure this base could withstand a brotherly reunion. You okay with this?'

'Yeah', Steve said.

'We'll still have guards walk you both from his cell to the 'gym'. Destroyer guns and all'.

Fury pulled a piece of paper from his coat and handed it to Steve.

'Here's a list of the exercise we need him to perform, I know you can handle yourself but be careful anyway'.

Steve memorised the short list and handed it back to Fury.

'Don't worry. I've seen 'Silence of the Lambs', he said.

'Who suggested that one?'

'Natalia'.

'Of course', Fury said with what Steve swore was a genuine smile.

Loki eyed Steve and his escorts haughtily as they entered his room.  
Five guards stood to attention beside the old soldier, all holding the so called 'Destroyer Guns' Thor had made him aware of.  
He raised an eyebrow as the glass divide separating him from them began to rise, disappearing into a slot in the ceiling.

'Exercise time then?' Loki asked.

He stood at the threshold and then slowly placed one foot outside it.  
He gave a sardonic smile at the rumbling noise of the destroyer guns being powered up. His face was illuminated with pale orange light from the lights of the barrels pointing right at him.

'I sense a lack of trust', he deadpanned.

'It's more like a surplus of common sense', Steve said, 'Before we go any further Loki, I'm going to ask you to leave SHIELD personnel alone'.

'I'll think about it', Loki said, 'Provided of course they leave me alone in turn'.

'That's fair', Steve acknowledged, 'Right guys?'

There were a couple of nods from the guards and what sounded suspiciously like a bitter snort of laughter but Loki seemed satisfied.

'Lead on then', he gestured, waving a hand magnanimously.

Three of the guards fell in behind him.  
Two flanked the door they were about to leave through as Steve stood beside Loki.

'After you', Steve said with a smile, 'They insist'.

The two walked abreast through the hallway, behind two of the guards with the other three bringing up the rear.  
Steve could see the same 'magical' wiring as Loki's cell beneath their feet, crackling silently.  
But, as they approached a large set of metal double doors, the wires ended, disappearing into an unremarkable looking grey box.  
Glancing at Loki, Steve could tell he had noticed too.

'This room isn't shielded is it?' Loki asked.

'Nope', Steve replied.

No point lying about it.

'A big risk don't you think?'

'You're stuck fifteen feet below ground with five destroyer guns pointing up your nose and I'll be the only one in there with you. I can live with that risk since it only applies to me', Steve outlined as one of the guards keyed in a code to open the doors to the gym.

The doors slid back and the guards stood, one on either side as Steve began to walk inside. After a moment, Loki followed.

'They aren't joining us?' Loki asked, noting the doors sliding shut behind them.

'They're just going to get better view', Steve said, 'Let's get started'.

The room was the size of a gymnasium and, like Loki's cell, painted a sterile white. The floor was laminate and Loki identified one way mirrors looking down at them. The guards were no doubt behind these with their 'toys'. He was sure they wouldn't be the only ones: this 'exercise' was as much an information gathering project as a diplomatic concession. Dotted around the room were various pieces of equipment: barbells and dumbbells, a vaulting horse and monkey bars. There were also ropes hanging down from the ceiling and several punching bags.

'With what?' Loki asked, crossing his arms.

'A workout', Steve said.

'A non-negotiable workout?'

'You said you were bored in there', Steve said, pointing to the door leading back to Loki's cell.

'So instead of staring at blank walls, I get to jump through hoops is that it?'

'You want hoops?' Steve asked, 'I'm sure we could find some if you want'.

'Let's get this over with', Loki muttered.

'Great', Steve said, 'Let's start with the barbells'.

According to the briefing Fury had given him, he had two hours to get the data from Loki.  
That would also unfortunately use up any time Steve had to question him further about the Chitauri so he was not about to waste any time.

The barbells provided went up to 115kgs: standard issue for 'World's Strongest Man' contests worldwide. From what he'd seen of Thor, it should have been no problem for Loki. But after a few minutes of trying half-heartedly to lift the weight marked 110kgs above his head, Loki dropped it onto the floor, where it landed with a deafening clang.  
Steve directed Loki towards the punching bags instead.  
Loki took a similarly unenthusiastic approach to these, hitting the first one so lightly it barely moved. He continued like this for a few minutes, until Steve, fed up with Loki's deliberately lacklustre efforts, punched the bag next to Loki so hard it flew off its chain.  
Seeing that, Loki cocked his fist back and threw a proper punch. The bag flew slightly further than Steve's and burst all over the floor, scattering its contents.  
Loki dusted his hands and shrugged at Steve, silently asking him to indicate what he wanted him to do next.  
Steve thought about it.  
Overall, Loki's results were pretty similar to Steve's when he had done the same SHIELD physical fitness exam months ago. The results were impressive. Most would call them superhuman. But only by human standards.  
Steve hadn't seen Thor's results but having seen him in action, he knew Loki as an Asgardian should be nearly as strong. The results so far were underwhelming.  
Then again, Loki was far slighter than Thor and had been through a great deal of physical stress in the last few days. Not to mention his obvious favour for stealth and subterfuge over brute strength.  
There was also the far simpler theory that Loki was simply not trying: his disdain for SHIELD's observational efforts obvious from the way he kept smirking at the one way mirrors.  
Steve felt a pang of annoyance as he saw Loki was now lounging on a bench. As Steve regarded him, Loki cracked one eye open and yawned in an exaggerated fashion.  
Loki had said he liked to win.  
Maybe a competition would help get him invested.

'Let's race', Steve said, pulling off his jacket.

'What for?'

'I feel like getting some exercise', Steve said, stretching his calves, 'Never raced an alien before. Come on, show me whatcha got'.

Loki clicked his tongue scornfully.

'Scared I'll beat you?' Steve teased.

The indignant look on Loki's face made Steve feel he had won a race already. Steve walked to a metal pillar rising out of the floor and pressed a button. A red light clicked on and a timer started counting down.  
Steve took up position behind a line etched into the floor.  
For a moment he thought Loki wasn't going to take the bait but then he gave an annoyed grunt and stood up briskly.

'Conditions?' Loki asked.

'Three laps around the room', Steve outlined, 'First one back here wins. Start when the light turns green'.

Loki knelt down and adopted the same starting position as Steve, facing dead ahead.  
Steve saw the focused look on Loki's face as he watched the timed lights intently.  
Amazing how a little poked pride could change someone's mind.  
A blaring noise signalled the change from red to green and both racers leapt into action.

Steve let Loki gain a few feet ahead of him. His strategy seemed to have worked: Loki was moving at a good speed and Steve actually found himself having to speed up to maintain a competitive pace. Loki was obviously not used to running though: his breathing was uncontrolled and his posture was off, costing him extra energy as they turned the first corner.

'On your left', Steve called, tapping Loki's shoulder as he caught up with him. He got a glimpse of Loki's surprised face just before Loki generated another burst of speed. Steve let him. All he had to do was wait.

'On your left', Steve said again as they crossed the finish line the first time. Loki cursed in a foreign language, his brow beginning to dampen with sweat and Steve let him draw ahead again.

By the second crossing of the finish line Loki was obviously struggling. His hair was clinging to his forehead and his breathing was ragged. Asgardians weren't much faster than humans and Loki's poor physical condition was tipping the race in Steve's favour.  
Sensing the struggle was nearly over, Steve began to pull ahead slightly. He wouldn't win by much so as not to stop Loki trying to win, just enough to maybe teach him a lesson. Loki glared at him, determination creasing his face. Steve smiled good naturedly and passed him.  
The finish line was straight ahead.  
He could hear Loki gaining behind him.  
And something far larger nearly knocked him flying.  
He spun from the impact as _something_ collided with his shoulder as it barrelled past him.  
He just about stayed on his feet but lost all momentum.  
This gave him time to try and process what he was looking at.  
A horse crossed the finish line and cantered for a distance further before gradually slowing to a stop.  
Its coat was a dark black but it looked distinctly unhealthy. Steve could see its ribs jutting out and its mane hung limply around its face. Its coat was gleaming with sweat and it gave a snort as it tried to slow its breathing. It turned to face Steve and despite its ill-used look, did a cocky trot, kicking its fetlocked hooves out behind it.  
Steve shook his head resignedly.

'You should really have finished as yourself', he said, crossing the finish line out of principle.

The horse vanished as Loki resumed human form.

'I'm always myself', Loki smirked.

'Can you become anything you want?' Steve asked, taking a towel from a pile sitting on a nearby bench. Despite Loki's unpleasant nature, he was genuinely intrigued by what he could do. Even if Stark said it was just 'tricks', it was still pretty amazing stuff.  
SHIELD was probably as interested in it as Steve was: the more they could observe it the better.

'I have a rather wide repertoire', Loki said proudly, 'But it takes practice and incredible powers of observation'.

'Observation?'

'For example, thanks to that little bout, I'm fairly confident I can replicate you'.

'Bet you can't', Steve said, rubbing the back of his neck with the towel.

Loki's form blurred.  
Steve examined Loki's new shape critically.

'Wanna have a discussion about patriotism?' Loki asked, voice twanging with an attempt at Steve's accent.

Loki posed with both hands set on his hips, sticking out his chest: the white star on Captain America's uniform shining crisply on the clean fabric. He hadn't bothered with the helmet but had conjured a replica of the vibranium shield strapped to his back.

'The costume shouldn't be that tight', Steve critiqued, 'And it should be a darker blue. Still, not bad'.

Steve's mirror image smiled, completely breaking the illusion. Steve knew his smile was nothing like that.

'So what do I win?' Loki asked as he became himself again, 'I believe that's two victories to me: the race and that little demonstration'.

'I didn't say anything about a prize', Steve said, amused, 'Besides you cheated in the race'.

'That was not cheating. It was adapting to circumstances', Loki corrected, 'What else can it be if the king of the kingdom makes making unwise wagers?'

Sensing Loki was about to begin his next story, Steve took a seat on the bench opposite and leant forwards attentively.

Loki began.

'Despite its strength and strategic position, Odin wished to have the palace better protected. So he set up a contest: whoever could design a worthwhile addition to the palace defences would be rewarded with whatever prize he desired. There were many contenders: one that sticks in my mind (and one I fiercely endorsed) was an engineer who wanted to harness Thor as a kind of power generator. He was turned down and thrown out of the palace.  
Just as it seemed we would never be presented with a practical solution, an outsider stepped forward. He outlined his plans for a forcefield that, when activated, would encompass the entire palace like a glass globe. His blueprints were impressive and it was obvious he was a magician of great skill from the way he spoke of his designs. Odin hired him and gave him a time limit of three days. The man (who only ever referred to himself as a 'smith') protested this was not enough time. Odin accused him of not being able to follow up on his promises. The smith took offence and said he would complete the task, if Odin would then keep his promise: to give the smith whatever treasure he desired. I remember Frigga (Odin's wife to you) trying to calm Odin down (no doubt sensing the smith had something up his sleeve) but Odin shouted her down, raging that the smith was accusing him of being a king who would go back on his word. The smith then named his prize: if he completed the task, he wanted Frigga as his wife. We were all shocked at this. Not at what he had asked for: he was impudent and low born but rather that Odin had fallen for his trap.  
Struggling to keep his temper in check, Odin agreed but gave him conditions. He was to work without help from any other man and was not allowed to use any craft to help him transport the stone. The smith bowed and went off to start his task.  
I went to sleep that night listening to my parents arguing down the hallway and ate meals the next day with them both ignoring each other.  
To make matters worse, after two days it looked like the smith was going to win his bet.  
The forcefield was nearly finished. The main reason for this was the smith enlisting the help of a gigantic stallion he had brought with him. The smith would mine the dimensional crystal he required from Asgardian quarries and then have the massive beast carry the bags of it to the palace for integration into the walls and atmosphere'.

'Dimsenional crystal?' Steve interjected.

'A rare element even by Asgardian standards due to the difficulty in mining it. It must be coaxed out of the rock by hand due to its volatility. The way a forcefield of this element works is when a threat is detected, the crystals that form it react violently against the intruder, vaporising it on impact. The smith had obviously been planning this design for a while: there is no way he mined that much crystal in so short a time but we could prove nothing.  
The progress was worrying: the smith and his horse never seemed to tire or stop to eat.  
At the end of the second day, Odin called the smith in for an update on how the work was progressing but in reality it was his attempt to denounce him for cheating by using his horse.  
The smith challenged (quite correctly) that a horse is technically neither a man or a craft so he was not breaking any rules. He then asked to return to his work and mentioned that Frigga may want to 'start packing her bags'.  
Odin was furious but could not do anything about the situation since the entire court had heard his bargain with the smith. Even those that had never been to the palace before were talking about it! They were all keen to see the outsider put in his place.  
So when I pointed out to the All-Father that technically his conditions had also left it open for the smith to seek help from women or children, he did not appreciate the observation. He stormed out of the hall, challenging me to do something 'if I was so clever' before walking straight into yet another blazing row with Frigga over the whole affair.  
Luckily for him (and Frigga), I am that clever.  
The main obstacle to our victory was the horse.  
I had to lure it away somehow.  
Its weakness was obvious.  
It was a large, strong, hot blooded stallion.  
It was easy to sneak close enough to the worksite and put on my disguise.  
All it took was a bat of my eyelashes and a 'come hither' whinny and he gave chase, breaking free of his bonds.  
I led him on a merry chase throughout Asgard until the sun set low in the sky on the third day and the smith's time limit expired.  
My victory was assured.  
Until the stallion caught me. And was quite insistent on enjoying his 'prize''.

'You're kidding me', Steve deadpanned.

'What?' Loki said, unrepentant, 'He was a very fine stallion. And very persuasive. It was quite a while before I returned to the palace (give or take 9 months) but when I did, I brought my father a kingly gift. He said it was the best horse he could ever ask for albeit unusual with 8 legs and a shockingly bad temperament (which it of course got from its father)'.

'You're kidding me', Steve repeated, rubbing his eyes.

'Odin praised it as a great mount', Loki continued wistfully, ''The best of all horses' he said. That helped me ignore the jibes, the snickers behind my back and the disgusted looks as I passed. I didn't care. Thanks to my little misadventure, the smith was unable to complete the work on time. I had saved my father's reputation, my mother's virtue and had created something wondrous. I was happy. Truth or lie?'

'There is no way you slept with a horse', Steve deadpanned, 'And mares don't carry for nine months, they carry for eleven so that part's bunk too'.

'Maybe on your planet', Loki interjected but Steve continued.

'Okay but even if we allow that, you are way too selfish to spend all that time looking after a foal. I believe the part about you becoming a horse: you just showed it to me. If things happened the way you say they did, I'm willing to bet you were the stallion and the smith's horse was a mare. But the real clincher is there is no way you'd hear all that gossip and not retaliate somehow. No matter how happy you were'.

'Correct', Loki said, nodding appraisingly, 'I simply had him chase me until he collapsed from exhaustion. I brought him back to the palace the next day where the smith was waiting, angrily accusing Odin of cheating. The forcefield had been finished a few minutes after the time limit expired: the smith was clearly exhausted having obviously tried to finish the task without his horse. I explained I had found the horse wandering around in the woods but was too weak to pull it back to the smith in time. Odin said the smith should thank me for returning his horse but the smith just stormed out. We never saw him again but Odin got a new horse to go with his new forcefield'.

'What was all that about the foal with eight legs then?'

'The people gossiping behind my bck was not a lie', Loki said darkly, 'And after nearly a year, it was becoming tiresome. No matter how I threatened, the rumours would just not stop. Once again my father did nothing so I decided to make sure he wouldn't be able to ignore the issue any more.  
I went to the stables and found the stall holding Odin's newest prize foal (the offspring of the smith's stallion) and tried to change it into a giant spider as recompense.  
Thor came in looking for me, interrupted me and then promptly told Odin everything.  
Sleiphner (as the foal was called) ended up with eight legs, a change Odin found to his liking when he observed how swiftly it could run.  
I ended up with the envious task of cleaning the stables for the next five months. This I could have lived with. But if anything it made the gossip worse: the story evolved from me simply sleeping with a horse to giving birth to the 'deformed' foal'. It was easy for people to latch onto this new fantasy since the creature was, quote, 'as much of a freak as Loki''.

Loki's expression was borderline murderous.

'The lesson is that despite real life providing logical explanations, people always prefer a scandal', he concluded.

'A giant spider's not really logical. Or a guy giving birth to a horse', Steve mused.

'I repeat: maybe not on your planet', Loki retorted, 'Though Midgardians seem just as eager to accept the latter story about me'.

At Steve's quizzical look, Loki elaborated, 'That version of the story was in Erik Selvig's head. It was an unpleasant surprise'.

Loki stood and stretched.  
He gazed into space, his tone thoughtful.

'It's astonishing that you'll believe that but you don't believe in things that are real. Multicoloured magic stones for instance'.

Steve shrugged, unsure of where Loki was going with this.

'Human nature I guess. So, how about that information? I guessed right'.

'I just gave it to you', Loki said, his face unusually serious, 'Unlike you, I reward those who pass my tests'.

The sound of the metal doors to the hallway opening stopped the conversation. The guards filed in.

'Time's up', one of the guards said brusquely.

Steve and Loki took the same position in the centre of the guards as they began to head back to Loki's cell.

'Let's go Pony Boy', one of the guards behind them remarked and a couple of others laughed as hey walked down the hallway.

Loki stiffened but was powerless to retaliate now they were back in the hallway.  
Steve felt a surge of anger at the remark as well as confusion over his reaction.  
As far as insults went, it was tame. Or at least it was compared to what he had heard other SHIELD agents calling Loki.  
He realised it was the timing that irritated him as they re-entered Loki's cell  
The guard had deliberately waited until they had left the unshielded room before insulting Loki. Too late for Loki to do anything about it.  
It was a bully's tactic.  
And it was a tactic Steve hated.  
As the secure glass wall settled back into place, Steve beckoned the guard to the side.

'Why did you say that in the hallway?' he asked, his voice low.  
He had his back to Loki so the prisoner hopefully wouldn't glean what they were discussing.

'Just a joke', the guard said, confused at Steve's obviously belligerent stance.  
The other guards filing out were looking at him with confusion too but did not have time to watch whatever fireworks were about to go off.

'It was unprofessional', Steve said sternly, 'And it was idiotic. I thought SHIELD personnel were the best of the best? In character and quality as well as skill. Just because he looks like he can't hurt you right now does not mean he's not dangerous. Do you understand?!'

The guard said nothing but lowered his eyes.  
Steve realised he had raised his voice and took a breath.

'I know he's done terrible things', Steve said, a bit more gently, 'Don't sink to his level. You're better than that'.

The guard nodded.

'Dismissed', Steve said and the guard left sheepishly after saluting.

Steve rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. The anger was fading now. He was surprised at the intensity of it: childhood resentment probably.

'You should have gotten his name', Loki said.

Steve looked at him.

'So I could remember it', Loki said, hands clenched together as if wringing some unfortunate chicken's neck, 'I remember every name'.

Steve had nothing to say to that.  
It had been over fifty years but he still remembered all his bullies' names too.  
So he left, leaving Loki alone with his anger but taking his own tumultuous emotions with him.

Emerging into a New York rainstorm, Steve noticed Thor sitting beneath a nearby bus shelter. He was drinking coffee and had a face ironically like thunder.

'One of yours?' Steve asked as he approached, pointing up at the grey clouds.

'Not enough lightning', Thor commented with a weak smile. He was wearing a tshirt, sweat pants and a pair of trainers. Steve could see a sweat stain on his back. It appeared Thor had taken the SHIELD workout more seriously than his brother.  
Steve took a seat beside Thor.  
The bus stop was no longer in use and the busting crowds paid them no attention, more focused on getting home and out of the cold than looking at two guys talking.

'You are wasting your time with him', Thor said suddenly, 'The truth is a language he no longer speaks'.

'I don't need to listen to everything he says Thor. I just need to watch him', Steve said.

'Explain'.

'You're a warrior. You know a fight isn't totally reliant on skill, it's about how you react to a blow. Loki can say whatever he likes but everyone has tells that give it away when he's lying. I just roll with the punches until I see an opening'.

Thor took a sip of coffee, frown deepening.  
'You are speaking sense. But I still don't like it'

'I know. But I need to get whatever information I can out of him before he leaves', Steve said, 'If there's something bigger on the way-' 

'We will stop it', Thor said, crushing his coffee cup.  
Hot liquid ran over his fingers. If it burnt him, Thor gave no sign.

'I know', Steve said gently, 'but the more information we have the easier it'll be. It's bothering Stark; he hasn't been the same since he fell through that portal no matter how he tries to hide it. I've seen that kind of thing before and it rarely ends well'. 

'I had not noticed', Thor said, obviously bothered by this, 'Very well. Continue with your plan but make it clear to Loki that if he is deliberately withholding information, he will find me similarly ungenerous when we return to Asgard'.

'I'll make sure he gets the message', Steve said.

Thor sighed.

'He is changed. His mind has become a twisted thing bent upon its own destruction. I do not know if it was the fall through oblivion or the Chitauri's tortures. They do not appear to have been kind masters'.

Steve said nothing. Thor had obviously been holding this in for a while.

'But that does not give him the right to inflict his own self-inflicted misery upon anybody else!'

'You think he's insane?' Steve asked evenly.

'How else can you explain his choices?' Thor growled, 'I was once arrogant and cruel but I took my blows and came out tempered. He threw himself on the anvil and has been broken'.

They sat in silence for a few moments. Car horns honked impatiently and the rain pattered above their heads.

'Do you think they'll execute Loki when you get him back to Asgard?' Steve asked.

'My mother will ask he be spared out of misplaced affection but imprisoned for his crimes', Thor said without emotion, 'To my father Loki is already dead'.

'I asked what you think', Steve pressed.

Thor looked thoughtful. After another silence, he responded.

'On the tower, when we were fighting, I thought he could come home. For a moment I saw my little brother looking at me, alone and terrified. He said it was too late to stop. I offered help'.

Thor's face darkened.

'Then he stuck a knife beneath my ribs', he growled, 'Do you know what he said?'

Steve knew it was a rhetorical question.

'He said 'sentiment',' Thor continued, knuckles white, 'I hate to admit it but he is right. That is something I cannot afford to succumb to. When we return to Asgard, Loki's fate will no longer be in my hands and I will rejoice to be free of his poison'.

Thor's words were harsh but they were tinged with sadness: the desperate tone of someone who wants to believe what they're saying but can't ignore their doubts. Steve had heard it often during the war.

'He told me about when the Alfheim delegates visited', Steve said, altering the subject slightly.

Thor gave a wordless grunt.

'He said you stole the spotlight'.

'Only because he couldn't remember the words!' Thor snapped.

'How did you know the words?'

'Before the banquet I had learned the entire book', Thor said.

'You didn't believe Loki could do it?'

'That is not true', Thor said, glaring at him, 'I knew those delegates; they were contradictory and insulting every time they came to Asgard. I knew they would change whatever they had asked to be prepared at the last minute. I tried to warn Loki how difficult they were but he would not listen. I simply wished to spare my brother embarrassment!'

'What happened to the delegates?' Steve asked, interested to hear Thor's side of the story.

'They got so drunk they were forced to apologize for their behaviour', Thor laughed sourly, 'Elves apparently can't hold their mead. Loki got his revenge'.

A tone of sincerity crept into Thor's laugh.

'I remember Loki said 'I may not be able to remember a poem but you can't remember an entire night! We all thought it was funny'.

Thor's growing smile faded.

'It was funny', he said melancholically, 'When did things go wrong?'

Thinking about how Loki may have had something to do with the drunkenness of the delegates, Steve wasn't sure.

'What about the horse rumours?' Steve asked.

Thor banged a fist on the arm of the bench. The wood splintered at the force but did not break.

'He knew about them?!'

Steve nodded.

'As soon as heard those filthy lies I took steps to silence them', Thor growled, 'Anyone that refused I silenced with my own fists. I didn't tell Loki about the lies because I didn't want them to taint his victory. And now you tell me he knew all along?!'

Thor ran both hands through his hair. Steve felt guilty for telling him so attempted to lighten the mood.

'He also told me you tattled on him when you found him in the stables'.

Thor gave an odd shiver.

'I don't care for spiders', he said quietly, 'Especially not those the size of horses'.

'His strength readings are really different from yours', Steve commented.

'You should not be surprised', Thor said, a tad too hurriedly to be casual, 'Loki was never one for martial pursuits. Besides the Chitauri's treatment of him may have caused damage'.

Thor kept his eyes firmly on the sodden pavement and Steve got the unpleasant inkling he was hiding something.

'No doubt the medical test tomorrow will shed light on things', Thor continued, 'Even if Fury has insisted on using Midgardian technology'.

'Probably to get readings he understands', Steve thought, 'Or ones that aren't tampered with'.

'Hey Thor?'

'Hmm?'

'Are magic stones real?'

'Of course my friend'.

'What are they for?'

Thor leaned back on the bench, grateful for the less personal line of questioning.

'Depending on their enchantment, they are used for a variety of things from powering craft to just being used for jewellery. Why do you ask?'

'Loki just mentioned they existed. Wanted to make sure'.

'I would need to know more to know what kind he is talking about', Thor mused, 'Magic stones aren't unusual on Asgard: the main bridge to Asgard is constructed out of thousands of them. And many other alien races use them'.

'Learn something new every day', Steve said, standing up.

'I would not worry you are missing anything my friend', Thor said good naturedly, 'After all your world has many wonders of its own. Have you sampled the hot pockets yet?'

'I'll add them to the list', Steve smiled and giving a wave to Thor, headed back to Stark Tower intrigued by the prospect of the medical test the next day.


	4. Girl

Banner tapped Steve on the shoulder just before he entered Loki's cell the next night.

He was wearing his lab coat: Steve knew he had been one of the supervising doctors for Loki's medical exam that day. Partly for his medical expertise but also just in case Loki had woken up halfway through. It was too early to gauge the results: Loki had only been returned to his cell a half hour before he had arrived and he had seen the team puzzling over monitors and notes upstairs.

'Gotta warn you', Banner said, 'He's still a bit groggy. Took a lot to put him down'.

'What did you do to him?'

'Took some bloods, temperature readings, tissue samples. Think he's gonna be more sore because of the anaesthetic wearing off than because of anything we did. Think having a hangover times five'.

'Kinda hard for a guy who can't get drunk'.

'Well, you'll see the real thing tomorrow don't worry', Banner said.

Steve nodded and pushed open the door.  
Loki was lounging on the bed, legs up on the wall. His hair hung below his head as he regarded his visitor. A large smile creased his upside down face.

'Hello Captain', Loki said with an eager wave, 'Here for storytime? Take a seat. Make yourself comfortable'.

'A bit groggy?' Steve asked Banner with a raised eyebrow.

'Okay a lot groggy', Banner conceded as he closed the door, leaving Steve and Loki alone in the room.

'Hello Loki', Steve said, taking his usual seat.

'You know this is the most relaxed I've felt in centuries?' Loki asked, watching his own hand as he moved it slowly, 'Midgardians do have some magic after all'.

'Are you alright?' Steve asked, conscious that Loki's drug induced confusion could be an elaborate feint.

'Just going to slip into something more comfortable', Loki said, smile increasing.

Loki's form blurred.

'That's better', he or rather she sighed.

It took Steve by surprise.  
He'd seen Loki change into Jane Foster but it was still strange to see him as a female.  
It emphasised how skinny Loki was, his now long black hair hanging around a sunken, high cheekboned face. His fuller lips were chapped and pale. Pointed nails drummed on his flat stomach and his chest rose and fell with relaxed breaths.  
Steve couldn't help but notice the ample bosom and felt a twinge of revulsion when he realised he was staring.

Turning her head towards him properly, Loki raised herself right way up. From the gleam in her eyes (which remained the same shape and colour) she knew what he had been looking at.

'Cat got your tongue?' she giggled, turning onto her stomach.  
Leaning on her elbows, she rested her head in her hands.

'You're in a good mood', Steve said. 

'Why wouldn't I be?' Loki said brightly, 'I look good'.

He leapt up from the bed and ran hands over his body.

'I feel good. Everything's...what's the word? Peary?' 

'Peachy', Steve said. If this was a feint it was a really good one.  
Loki seemed to find it hard to put one foot in front of the other, using the posts of the bed to steer herself towards the glass.  
Loki giggled and snapped her fingers. 

'That's it. Gods what a stupid phrase! What is a peach anyway?' 

'It's a fruit'. 

'Ah. We only have apples on Asgard. And grapes. And raspberries. And-' 

Realising that Loki in her unfocused state was probably going to get hung up on naming fruits, Steve took the risk of interrupting.

'Time to play our game'. 

'Is it?' Loki said, stretching, 'Alright. But first tell me, I've been killing-no that's not right. Dying? Yes that's it. Dying to know: do you have a woman?'

Loki raised an eyebrow tauntingly as if something had just occurred to him.

'Have you ever had a woman?'

'There have been a couple', Steve shrugged.

'I mean any that aren't currently pushing 90 years of age', Loki said.

Steve hastily changed the subject, He didn't like the direction the conversation was going: that lump was growing in his throat again.

'On your planet that's probably grade school right?' Steve asked.

Loki scoffed, twiddling her hair with one long finger. Steve noticed she had even conjured black nail polish.

'More like a nursery', Loki scoffed.

'Our planet must be like one big kindergarten to you', Steve said.

'And nobody's in charge!' Loki said incredulously, 'Rather dangerous don't you think?'

'What age are you?'

'You should never ask a lady her age', Loki said with mock seriousness wagging a finger. 

'Next time I see a lady I'll keep that in mind', Steve said.

Loki laughed and answered, '1048'.

Steve did the mental arithmetic in his head. Understanding dawned.

Loki was the Asgardian equivalent of a teenager.

'A lotta things just started making sense', he mumbled.

'What?' 

'You ever had a girl?' Steve amended.

It was clear from Loki's face she didn't believe that was what Steve had originally said but she responded anyway.

'I am a prince of Asgard', she said, pointing to herself.

She rolled her eyes as she realised which distinctly female parts of her anatomy she was pointing to.  
'Usually', she said then corrected herself again 'Formerly! Of course I've had women!' 

'I mean a proper girlfriend', Steve clarified.

'Once. Nearly', Loki said with an almost sulky expression.

'So just because you look like one doesn't mean you know how they think then', Steve said.

'And you do?' Loki asked, folding her arms. 

'I don't know about Asgardian women but here on earth we just accept it's a mystery too big to solve', Steve shrugged.

'Or you give up too quickly', Loki countered, leaning against the glass cockily.

'Okay then. Tell me what Asgardian women want', Steve challenged.

'The short answers would be shiny things and not me', Loki smiled bitterly as she began her story:

'Every year Asgard holds a Spring festival: yet another excuse for people to drink too much, eat too much and make utter fools of themselves.  
Thor and I were now both of age to attend and Thor made it clear to me in no uncertain terms that I was expected to have a female companion. For the purposes of dancing, looking pretty, laughing at my jokes, etc.  
I didn't care about the festival. What I cared about was position.

And there was one particular girl who had caught my eye.  
Her name was Sif: beautiful, intelligent and very handy with a spear.  
But what made me nervous was her tongue: if displeased, Sif could slice a tree in two with some carefully chosen words. She had humiliated Thor the week before when he had approached her for sparring practice. He had grabbed her in a bear hug and asked if she was lonely. In response, she had remarked loudly that she wasn't that lonely, kicked him between the legs and thrown a bucket of water over his head before storming off.  
You can see what attracted me to her.

The more I saw of her, the more I wanted her. How she moved, how she laughed: she was beautiful!

I finally plucked up the courage to ask her to accompany me.  
Sadly young female Asgardians have a habit of travelling in large flocks so I could never get her alone. Eventually I just went up and asked her.  
There was a ringing silence, then uproarious high pitched laughter.  
Sif didn't laugh. She didn't even look at me.  
She twiddled a finger in her hair as she revealed Thor had already asked her and she had accepted: they were going to match you see? Be a literal golden couple.  
Besides she was sure there were many girls who would be glad to accompany me. There was more laughter.  
Sif did not share my talent for dishonesty.  
I stood there, feeling my cheeks burning.  
Then I heard it.  
A whisper from one of the many enemies in front of me: 'Maybe there's someone in the stables who could take him'.  
I can still see Sif's smug smile even as she tried to hide her laughter. I left in disgrace, feeling…'

Loki trailed off. Steve could see a war of emotions raging on Loki's face: the drugs had evidently dropped his guard substantially. He could see anger and bitterness but mostly sadness. There was a definite watery glimmer in Loki's eyes.

'Hurt?' Steve prompted. He'd felt that all too often: the girls always seemed to prefer muscles over guys they could trip over by accident.

'Don't interrupt me!' Loki snapped, jabbing a finger at Steve.

As her head snapped up, Steve saw he hadn't been imagining the tears brewing but the anger now burning in Loki's veins seemed hot enough to evaporate them.

'I was going to say seething!' Loki snapped, 'I didn't care about her going with me: she was just a nice ornament to have on my arm! It was because she rejected me! A crown prince of Asgard! In public!'

'Thor had already asked her', Steve said, raising his hands in supplication, 'She was keeping her promise. And you asked her in a crowded place. Maybe she was embarrassed too'.

Loki as always, was in no mood to be reasonable.

'Well she didn't have to stand there like some kind of queen looking down her nose at me!' Loki ranted, 'Twiddling her hair like I didn't matter! Golden couple! Hah!'

Loki's clenched teeth became a spiteful smile.

'They, like many others before or since, thought I was harmless. Sif had robbed me of my pride so I would rob her of hers. That night, I crept into her room where she slept, took a pair of scissors and sheared her like a sheep!'

Loki sighed, swept up in his reminiscing.

'It was quite enchanting the way the moonlight bounced off her bald head', Loki said appreciatively but then her smile faded,

'The scream the next morning was less enchanting.  
As was the sight of her running into the great hall still in her night garments, scissors in hand.

She looked at me like she wanted to kill me.  
A prelude before actually trying to kill me'.

'How did she know it was you?'

'I might have laughed. I wasn't expecting it', Loki shrugged,  
'However upon reflection as she yelled up at my refuge in a large tree and tried to stab my ankles with a spear, I (with the aid of Thor restraining Sif) realised the act had indeed been unworthy of me and sought to make amends. So I petitioned the dwarfs (known for their skills as craftsmen) to make her new hair. It shone like gold and they promised that although it would mimic the look of her real hair, it would be even better than the real thing had been. I brought it to her, managing to arrive just before the festival began and apologized in front of a large crowd of witnesses (for my own safety). Her eyes lit up at the gift and she put it on, keen to show it at the banquet. She was so happy with it, she kissed me on the cheek'.

Loki raised a hand to her cheek, eyes far away. She seemed to be looking at something other than the walls of her cell.

'Something happened didn't it?' Steve commented, confident it wouldn't count as interrupting.  
His words seemed to bring Loki back.  
She flicker her hair over her shoulder and continued.

'Far from being the golden couple with Thor, it turns out Sif's hair was naturally a rather frizzy, lifeless looking black.  
As she entered the Great Hall with Thor, her hair began to leak yellow until she stood there with her natural hair colour revealed for all to see.  
The dwarfs had been truthful though; the condition of it had been much improved.  
The way she shrieked you would have thought it was a worse humiliation than losing her hair entirely.  
Although it was unfortunate she had chosen to wear a white dress. It did not survive the encounter with the yellow paint.  
It took Thor a whole hour to calm her down by showering her with compliments, the usual drivel: 'raven haired maiden' and 'hair black as night' and so on.  
She went away with him giggling and pacified but it was another hour before I felt secure enough to climb down out of the tree again.

I spent the evening in my room, reflecting on how my greed had been my downfall. Next time I would choose a less expensive bauble to wear.

Truth or lie?'

This one was a no brainer. Steve answered immediately.

'Lie, you really did care about her. She wasn't just a prize to you'.

'What makes you say that?' Loki asked, obviously offended Steve was accusing her of having feelings for Sif. Steve could also tell she was annoyed by the smug smile on his face.  
He had an ace in the hole.

'Because you're her right now', he said, gesturing to Loki's chosen shape, 'You could've become any woman but you chose her. Not to mention the hair twiddling thing'.

Loki's eyes widened as did Steve's smile. It was true: apart from the eyes and the wasted appearance, Loki was a perfect replica of the Lady Sif.

'How did you know that?' Loki asked quietly.

'They were here earlier today', Steve said, 'Her and the Warriors Three were discussing the arrangements to transfer you to Asgard. Thor introduced me'.

'You cheated', Loki said, surprise suffusing every syllable. 

'I adapted to circumstances', Steve said, 'Isn't that what you called it? Sif was the only one who asked how you were'. 

'What did you tell her?' Loki said after a brief moment's hesitation.  
Steve knew it was a determined attempt by Loki not to give away her eagerness.

'I said fine', Steve said.

'What did she say?'

'You really wanna know?'

'I'm fairly sure I can guess the nature of the reply but why not?' Loki said, 'Tell me'.

'She said: 'pity'', Steve said truthfully.

Loki laughed as he resumed his usual male appearance.

'It is nice to see some things never change' he said. 

'Did it ever occur to you she might not forgive you?' Steve asked seriously. 

'She got her hair back. So, no', Loki said, equally seriously.

'But it wasn't _her_ hair. It was fake'.

'No. It was better. What's your point?'

'Point is your story's true but you haven't learnt anything from it'.

'I have learnt that women prefer blondes', Loki said flippantly, 'Now, for your information'.

Loki closed his eyes and clasped his hands, obviously trying to collect his thoughts.

Steve waited patiently.

Only for Loki to fall insensate back onto the bed with an undignified 'thud'.

Judging from the serene smile on his face and gentle breathing he was having a good dream.

Steve considered waking him up but decided against it.

He got up and left the cell.

Loki could owe him the information.

Dreams of better times were all Loki had and for all the savagery and evil Loki had committed, Steve didn't have the heart to take them from him. After all, Loki seemed to have done all the damage himself.


	5. Boy

'Got a sec Cap?' Banner called.

Steve halted and walked towards the scientist. Banner was sitting at a temporary desk, working through a folder of papers, organizing them. Steve saw x-rays and complicated looking graphs. There were also a series of small boxes and hand written observations. Each one was stamped with a label reading: PROJECT MAGPIE.  
Banner was dressed in a comfy looking faded sweater and jogging pants. He rubbed his eyes as Steve approached and set his glasses on the desk. He was alone: Steve knew he preferred solitude when working. Despite the help he had provided, Steve knew many SHIELD personnel were still wary of him, especially given his rampage aboard the helicarrier.

'Sure', Steve said, 'Are those the medical report results?'

'Yep'.

'Are they in English?' Steve joked.

Banner laughed.

'These are copies of the report given to Director Fury: he demanded English. Got you a copy too. And I have visual aids'.

Banner directed Steve to a laptop sitting nearby as Steve took the offered folder.

'Take a look at this', Banner said and pressed play.

On screen, Loki lay on an operating table out cold. A team of three doctors in scrubs bustled around him, checking medical equipment and readouts. Steve identified Banner standing by, the only one not moving, eyes locked on Loki's unconscious body.  
Suddenly Banner gave a start and moved forward but then seemed to catch himself when the doctor closest to him jumped back, startled. Banner held up a hand in apology then pointed to Loki's body. The other doctors noticed and began to cluster around the stretcher, blocking the camera's view. Steve leant forward and as one doctor moved to check the monitors, saw what was causing the doctors' consternation.  
'What's happening to him?' Steve asked.

'At first we thought he was flat lining and the machines weren't picking it up', Banner explained, 'People usually only turn that colour when something's seriously wrong'.

Banner stopped the video.

'Or they've eaten an experimental stick of gum', Banner concluded.

Steve looked at Banner puzzled.

'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory', Banner clarified.

'I'll add it to the list', Steve said, 'Anything else weird?'

'After that the rest of the procedure went well', Banner said, studying his notes, 'We got blood, spit, hair samples and other things I won't go into. He's heavier than he looks due to bone density and we noticed an increased ability to heal damage. It took us a couple of tries to take blood because the puncture wounds kept healing too quickly'.

'So do all Asgardians really look like that? They just hide it so humans don't get scared?'

'Remember how Thor said Loki was adopted? What if he wasn't joking? I'm beginning to think our guest isn't Asgardian at all'.

'Then why let SHIELD study him?'

'So they can pretend to give us information'.

Banner lowered his eyes at Steve's incredulous expression.

'Trust me, I hope I'm wrong too but it fits. From what Thor's told us you think Odin would want us poking around a real Asgardian? What if we found something they didn't want us to? Something that could be used against them?'

'Thor wouldn't do that', Steve said firmly.

'Thor's not the boss of Asgard yet', Banner shrugged.

'So why didn't it happen yesterday when he passed out in his cell?'

'From what I can tell a certain amount of time has to pass. Or it could be to do with his level of consciousness. When you're asleep you still keep a certain degree of awareness. Loki's a light sleeper: he woke up immediately when we started pumping knockout gas into his cell even though it didn't have any smell. He sensed it was there. You and I probably would too thanks to our…abilities. When Loki finally went under, it put him into a deeper sleep than he usually experiences which resulted in the change'.

'So this is a spell or something?'

'Spell, camouflage, makeover. Whatever it is, he's definitely doing it himself that's for sure. When he started to come round, his skin went back to normal. It isn't much of a strategic advantage but thought it might help'.

'At this point I'll take any help I can get. Anything else?'

'His body temperature's a constant five degrees below a standard Asgardian and his eyes turn red too. Think that's about it. There's some really interesting observations concerning the signals in his hypothalamus and his dermal regeneration capabilities but you did say English right?'

'Thanks for the help', Steve said.

'Don't mention it. Thank you for the physical exam data. Fascinating'.

Banner returned to his notes.

'You can leave the folder there. I'll get it and the others delivered to the Tower'.

Steve nodded and put the folder down, being careful not to knock over another stack of notes.  
He noticed they were still images depicting the moment Loki had changed shape in the gymnasium with him. There were also images of Loki as Sif and Jane Foster. Numerous notes had been scrawled on them. Steve recognised Banner's untidy shorthand. Apparently he was very interested in this particular ability of Loki's.  
Steve didn't comment.  
Just hoped that maybe, just maybe, Banner could find an answer to his own problems in the piles of research.

Loki groaned as Steve closed the thick metal door behind him and locked it into place.  
He was lying on the bed, one arm over his eyes.  
He looked paler than usual and winced as he sat up slowly, massaging his forehead with both hands.

'I'm not in the mood for our game', he said heavily, 'My head feels as if a Bilgesnipe's been sitting on it'.

Despite his discomfort, Loki did not seem to want Steve to leave so he took his usual seat.  
Even if he had, Steve was not about to go without a fight. Loki owed him information.

'I can see that', Steve said evenly, 'Any ideas about how to pass time then?'

'How about you tell me something for a change?' Loki said.  
Steve could tell Loki had meant it to sound spontaneous but didn't buy it.

'Like what?'

'What form of radioactive animal bit you?'

'Huh?'

'Or did it manifest during puberty? Close contact with a meteorite? Lab accident?'

'Nah, the lab part was actually a total success', Steve said, amused, 'I thought you knew all about me. You keep calling me soldier'.

'Conversations with the archer while he was in my employ made for interesting listening. He mentioned a top secret project that created you but didn't know anything else about it'.

'Why do you wanna know?' Steve asked plainly.  
Loki turned to look at him properly. Steve noted the analytical look in his eyes despite their raw, tired appearance.

'You want to pick at the dirty corners of my mind. Why can't I know some things about you?'

'You should check out the museum sometime, they have a display'.

'I doubt Fury would approve of such an excursion'.

'What do you wanna know?'

'What did it feel like?'

'The procedure?'

'Becoming a god'.

'Not like that for starters', Steve laughed again. He couldn't help it. The over dramatic statement was ridiculous.

'Don't tell me you never think about how easy it would be to snap their little necks', Loki said breezily, 'I do. Often'.  
Loki's smile made Steve's fade.

'No', Steve said.

'Come now. You know you're not like them anymore. You're special'.

'Gonna stop you right there', Steve said stiffly.

'Why? Have I touched a nerve?' Loki asked with barely disguised glee.

'No', Steve said with a concentrated attempt to be emotionless, 'I've just heard that line before. It gets old'.  
His strategy worked: Loki leant back, lip curling in disgust.

'My mistake', he said, 'You're not special at all. Just another human given a gift he doesn't know how to use'.

'You're right', Steve nodded,'It _was_ a gift. That's why I take care of it'.

Loki gave a theatrical yawn.  
'Is it Fury's intention to bore me to death? Or is it just a happy accident on your part?'

Steve stood up and walked towards the cell. Loki rose slowly at his approach but did not come closer to the glass. Steve was so close to the transparent surface, he could see his breath misting on it. He stared hard at the prisoner.  
Loki stared back, eyes narrowed in suspicion.  
'It really doesn't bother you', Steve said, 'All those people in New York. And for what? To prove you're better than Thor?'

'I am better than Thor', Loki growled.

'Then why're you in here?'

Loki began to approach slowly.  
'Your pet monster mostly. Another man pretending to be something he isn't'.

'Some people would call you a monster'.

'They'd be right by the standard definition', Loki shrugged, now as close as Steve was to his own side of the glass, 'But what do you think?'

Steve thought about his answer and when he had chosen, he met Loki's smirk of relish with dispassion.

'I think you have problems. And I think you need to do something about them before it causes any more deaths. What if it's someone you care about next time?'

'No risk of that'.

Steve didn't believe that: Loki's eyes had darted away for the briefest of moments.  
'There's nobody you care about?'

Loki did not respond. Instead he leant an elbow against the glass as if to signal his disdain for the question.

'So you take it out on normal innocent people?' Steve pressed, 'You know, just because you have power doesn't mean you have to use it'.

'Then what's the point in having it?!' Loki snapped, 'You think Thor could have saved that pathetic little dust heap town without his precious hammer?!'

Steve was surprised how easy it was to see the pattern: Loki couldn't help but react. Couldn't stop himself blaming others. Drawing comparisons.  
'Appearances are important to you aren't they?' Steve said, seemingly changing the subject.

'Interesting question'.

'I watched the tape of when SHIELD first captured Thor in New Mexico. No second person shows up on tape but he says he was talking to you. When I asked him about it, he said you were wearing 'Midgardian' clothes'.

'And?'

'Nobody could see you but you still dressed the part. Like extra camouflage. Then in Germany, the security footage shows you all dressed up. Like you're going to the opera or something'.

'What's my taste in clothes got to do with anything?'

'You're right', Steve said and began to turn away from the glass, 'Forget it'.

A dull thud stopped him.  
Loki had banged his fist on the glass. There was a warning crackle of electricity from beneath his feet but Loki ignored it.  
'No', Loki said coldly, 'Explain yourself'.

'It's just another form of lying isn't it?' Steve said, 'Just like the way you dressed up when you came to see Thor. You want to belong; to not be different'.

'I am different', Loki said with a hint of resignation.

'That's not a bad thing', Steve shrugged.

'I know that!' Loki snapped, 'What is your point?!'

Steve knew he was getting to Loki. He wasn't sure how or why but this line of conversation was making Loki uncomfortable. He had to pursue it.  
'My point is you don't feel like you belong', Steve theorised, 'like you're ashamed of who you are. And I think that's why you're angry. That's why you feel like you got something to prove'.

Loki laughed but Steve could see there was no genuine amusement in it.  
It was another smokescreen.

'This is pathetic', Loki sneered, 'You're just throwing nonsense at me now hoping something sticks! Fairy tales and baseless stories!'

Steve shook his head. If all Loki had left was denial, he was nearly out of ammo. Time to bring out the big guns.

'Oh I know your story already Loki. You were the weak little kid who got pushed around and overlooked. The others got all the muscles but you got stuck with a brain that kept trying to get you to give up. Tried to make you feel weak but mostly you just felt sad and lonely all the time. Like there was no one in Asgard you could talk to. No matter what you did, it was never what people wanted. But I got news for you. Lots of kids feel that way. Doesn't mean they grow up to be bullies. They- _We_ are stronger than that'.

Loki's expression was murderous.  
'You dare compare me to-'

This time, Steve slammed a fist against the glass.

'Yeah I dare!' he shouted, then lowered his voice, 'Somebody has to. You had all these chances and you threw them away because you wanted more! Whether you like it or not, Loki, you did belong. Heck you had everything on a silver platter! But now you don't belong anywhere but in a cell! How's that feel?!'

'I don't want to belong!' Loki shouted back, spittle flying from his previously clenched teeth.

'Well that's great', Steve said firmly, 'cause you're never gonna be king of anything now. Not Earth and not Asgard!'

'I hate Asgard!'

'Then why do you still pretend to be Asgardian?!' Steve snapped.

Loki looked as if Steve had just punched him.  
All the fury fled his face: replaced by shock.

'What?' Loki asked softly.

'When you're unconscious, your skin and eyes change colour and your body temperature is a constant five degrees below what a standard Asgardian is', Steve said, matching Loki's calmer demeanour, 'You're a different species'.

'Be quiet', Loki whispered.

Steve felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck at the dangerously quiet reaction. Loki wasn't looking at him. Steve could see his shoulders shaking with rage and his mouth was tight.

'I'm right aren't I?'

There was a sudden snap of electricity and Steve heard the machine behind him gave a ponderous thrum. The ground beneath Loki's feet was flickering. Steve squinted and detected faint green dust like particles dancing around Loki's white knuckled fist.

'Get out', Loki mumbled.

Steve couldn't: he was too fascinated by the effect his words were having.

'You hate what you are'.

Steve bent down so he could meet Loki's eyes. Loki looked at him. There was no life in his eyes.

'Why?' Steve asked quietly.

As if his word had been a spark, Loki erupted, eyes suddenly blazing.

'I SAID GET OUT!'

The bed suddenly flew upwards and smashed on the ceiling. Three lightbulbs burst and a powerful gust of wind scattered the pieces of wood from the shattered frame across the floor and threw them against the glass.  
Loki paid no heed to the commotion, his eyes fixed hatefully on Steve despite the wild breeze whipping his clothes and hair.

Then he seemed to realise what he had just done.

He just had time to give a wordless roar of frustration before the magical barrier did its work.  
The cell was bathed in a radiant golden net of crackling lightning that engulfed Loki. He tensed, mouth gaping in pain as he fell to his knees. He tried feebly to crawl, fingers curled into claws but folded in on himself, curling into a foetal position.  
Steve could see from his sweat bathed face that Loki was losing consciousness, body twitching from exposure to the energy which was beginning to die down. He looked at Steve just before he passed out.  
No begging. Just fury.  
And something else.

Steve sat outside the bookstore.  
It was raining again.  
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Banner take a seat beside him.

'Just checked him out', Banner said, cleaning his glasses on his sweater, 'He's gonna be sore when he wakes up but that's it'.

Steve didn't say anything.

'I know you think you messed up in there', Banner said gently.

'No. I _know_ I messed up in there', Steve said, 'I got too close. Too personal'.

'You certainly rattled him that's for sure. But maybe that's not a bad thing. You got through the mask he wears. That's what made him react like that. You scared him'.

'Scared him?'

'If anyone knows about anger Cap it's me. What he did in there was accidental. His powers are tied into his emotions. He loses control (gets angry or scared), things explode. He didn't even realise what he'd done until the machine kicked in. He only cares about himself so why put himself at risk?'

'You should've been a shrink', Steve commented.

'I think it'd be kind of hypocritical', Banner said, giving an abashed smile.

'Accident or not, why would Loki tell me anything after this?' Steve asked.

'He might not', Banner conceded, 'But are you gonna stop trying just because he threw a tantrum?'

Steve didn't respond.  
Of course he wasn't! Giving up was never an option.  
He was just at a loss of what strategy to use now.  
Banner, sensing Steve's racing thoughts offered: 'You know if you want I can get the other guy to give him a spanking?'

Steve laughed.  
'Thanks for the offer but I can handle him', he said, 'Somehow'.

Banner got up and stretched.  
'Coming back to the tower?' he asked.

Steve pulled up the hood of his coat and began to walk with the scientist.  
They had walked a couple of blocks when Steve gave voice to something that had been bothering him.

'Just one more thing', Steve said, 'Maybe I was imagining it but when Loki was on the ground, I looked at him and-I don't know how to explain it, but he seemed nervous'.

'Nervous?'

'No. Not nervous', Steve corrected himself, 'Scared'.

'What's Loki got to be scared about?' Banner asked.

Steve had no answer.  
Just a nasty, creeping unease in his gut.


	6. Silver

Loki was in the grip of an unquiet sleep.  
He shook and gasped in discomfort.

Even though he was unconscious he could feel the last of his mental safeguards failing.  
The accursed drugs the Midgardians had used for the exam and the physical abuse from the generator had finally weakened his defences too much.  
If he had been on Asgard he would have had help: plenty of magical sources he could have drawn upon to strengthen his defences from mental invasion. Even then he was unsure this combined might could stop the being trying to batter the walls of his mind down now.  
He could feel the presence approaching.

The voice was like the rumble of a vast wave approaching the shoreline and its words rushed coldly into Loki's ears. 

'Little Loki', the voice boomed, 'You seem destined to disappoint'.

In his mindscape, Loki could see the being who spoke.  
It sat upon a stone throne that hovered in the darkness. The faint twinkling of stars gave their meeting place a melancholy atmosphere which was undercut by the sense of boundless threat emanating from the seated figure.  
Loki fought the urge to drop to his knees: he could sense the power in that form. It was nothing to do with the figure's physical body, though it was armoured and muscular with fists large enough to crush Loki's skull in a single hand.  
It was everything to do with its eyes: shining like pinpricks out of a craggy, alien face that regarded him with the same bemusement as a Midgardian may regard an insect.

Before crushing it. 

'My Lord I-I have told them nothing!' Loki stammered, hating the faltering tone of his voice, 'Even under torture!' 

The figure's voice was surprisingly smooth, at odds with its features but it was dispassionate. Alien. 

'Your memory is short if you consider Earthly techniques torture'. 

Loki blanched and gave an involuntary shiver. His chest tightened and he thought his racing heart would break through his ribs.  
Old wounds pulsed and burnt in reaction to the mention of torture.  
The figure gave no indication it had noticed any of this.  
Or perhaps it was content to ignore Loki's discomfort: it was obviously well used to the effect it's proximity had on lesser beings. 

'It would be unwise for you to share anything important with them', the figure intoned, voice suggesting that what it said would be all to Loki's benefit, 'Earth is such a small planet after all and you are only one man'. 

Loki actually _felt_ the figure's gaze harden. 

'Easy to find', it concluded, its voice carrying the finality of a coffin lid slamming shut, 'Hard to miss'. 

Loki swallowed. 

'I see you understand', the figure said. 

The figure leant back and almost idly observed: 'You brag about all your clever words and yet now, the fear in your face betrays you. Ironic. And amusing'.

It began to laugh, a hollow sound that grew and grew in volume until it felt like Loki's head would explode with the ringing of it.  
He gasped as a stabbing pain lanced through his skull and opened his eyes to blackness.  
For one hideous moment, he thought he had been struck blind by the telepathic attack but then the lights flickered on.  
He fancied he could hear thunder up above but realised it could simply be the rumble of New York traffic. Sometimes during the time of day Midgardians called 'rush hour', he could hear it over the steady murmur of the generator.  
As he sat up, he saw the cell had been restored to its original clean condition.  
Evidently the cleaners had decided his position on the floor had been suitable enough for them to carry out their tasks.

He was glad they had not touched him. The indignity of being seen like that was enough to live with never mind any pathetic attempts at sympathy.  
He tried to stretch and gasped as pain lanced up his back.  
He felt sore and his hands were shaking: he was not convinced it was entirely an after effect of the shock he had received.

So, Thanos knew he was still on Earth.  
But he knew nothing of the game he had been indulging in with the soldier.  
If he had, Loki's mind would have been shattered to pieces.

He saw a book sitting on the new bed.  
An autobiography of Captain America titled ' _The Star Spangled Man'_.

He scoffed. No doubt someone's idea of a joke.

The sooner he was back in Asgard the better.  
But for now, a little research couldn't hurt.

The lights flickered above Steve's head as he entered the base.

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were hovering around the 'command centre' checking cables and running diagnostics.  
As Steve approached, he pointed a finger above his head in silent question. 

'Just havin' some technical issues', Stark answered with a unconcerned wave of his hand, 'Warned 'em about letting the guys play games on the machines. Especially in a museum like this. No offence'.

'None taken', Steve said, smiling, 'Thought you had a lot to do with fixing this place up?'

'Theoretically yeah. Blueprints, ideas, sticky notes and a long, long list of 'things not to do'. Pretty sure this was caused by a 'Candy Crush' popup or something', Stark murmured as he checked cables. 

'Or the weather', Banner ventured, 'This rain and lightning isn't helping. I thought you said you'd cheered Thor up?' 

'He's at Avenger Tower, watching 'Friends' (a, in fact some people would say _the_ , 90's classic comedy sitcom)', Stark said, providing context for Steve, 'Dunno how much more cheered up he can be'. 

'Avenger Tower?' Steve asked, amused by Stark's use of the melodramatic title, 'Thought the newspapers came up with that'. 

'Working title until I can get the other letters fixed', Stark said, eyes still fixed on the screen as hundreds of lines of coding swam upwards, 'Think New York needs more stuff fixed than we do right now'. 

'How are you doing?' Steve asked, noticing the bags under Stark's eyes lit by the glow from the screen. 

'Fine', Stark replied, 'Never better'. 

Banner and Steve exchanged a meaningful glance at the brevity of the response.  
Both had noticed a change in Stark since the invasion. He seemed animated by a strange jerky energy punctuated by long periods of silence and staring into midair. He refused to talk about the wormhole in any great detail, trailing off or becoming distracted when asked about it for too long.  
Steve had provided him with a number for a therapist which had in turn been procured by Banner. 

'Did you call the number I gave-' Steve began but Stark cut him off. 

'Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very helpful', he said then gave a flourish as he finished typing in a long command, 'Okay we're all set. Got full access to the cell controls'. 

'Don't want those going off', Steve commented, dropping his concerns about Stark's mental state.  
He hoped when he wanted to talk, he would. Didn't matter who to. 

'Yeah. Not until I press this button anyway', Stark said, rubbing his hands eagerly. 

'What's going on?' Steve asked seriously.

'An experiment', Stark said and pressed a key on the keyboard.

On the video screen, Steve watched with shock as Loki's cell began to open, the reinforced glass partition sliding upwards.  
Loki hadn't noticed yet: he appeared to be absorbed in a paperback he was reading.  
Steve noticed he didn't look any the worse for the incident the night before.

'What are you doing?! Close that cell!' Steve demanded, reaching for the offending button.

'It's okay Cap', Banner said, grabbing Steve's arm then immediately relaxing his grip, 'Really. It's all cleared with Fury'.

'Better be: it was Fury's idea', Stark said, 'Asgardian thingy's still on, see?'

'You're still putting people at risk', Steve said, slightly mollified by the reassuring glow from the machine that could be seen on the monitors.

'You see anybody around?' Stark asked, taking a pack of peanuts out of his jacket and opening them, 'Fury called 'em out for a 'briefing' the next block over so we could do this. Technically only putting ourselves 'at risk' and let's be honest'.

He ate a handful of peanuts and finished, 'It's not much of a risk'.

He offered Steve the bag but Steve declined. Seeing Steve was not yet fully reassured, Stark held up a demonstrative finger and said, 'You're also forgetting we've got an ace in the hole'.

'What?' Steve asked.

Banner cleared his throat loudly enough that Steve would hear without it being obnoxious.

'Even if he gets past the shielded corridor, the 'other guy' has it covered', Banner said.

'All we're gonna do is watch what he does', Stark said reassuringly even as he leant towards the monitor.

Loki looked up from his book.  
The only immediate reaction he gave was a slight stiffening of his shoulders and a lowering of the book.  
He glanced up at the ceiling, checking the lights for flickering then turned his attention back to where the partition should have been.

'Go on ratty, go get the cheese', Stark said, leaning back in his chair in obvious disappointment when it became apparent Loki was not going to bolt straight out the door.  
That rankled Steve. Harmless medical tests were all well and good but mind games had unpleasant implications.

'Or don't. It's all good', Stark commented, still watching Loki.

'He knows it's a trap', Steve said, rolling his eyes.

'We coulda been subtler about it' Banner admitted.

'Noted', Stark said, offering Banner a peanut.

'He's doing something', Banner noted, taking a peanut even as his eyes remained fixed on the screen.

Loki reached upwards and made a downwards motion, green energy glowing around his hands. The glass wall slid back into place so fast it would have cut someone in half if they had been standing beneath it.  
Loki examined his 'work', then, apparently satisfied the partition was back in place, he reopened his book with an air of finality.  
Stark entered the command and the machine started up again. There was an audible thud as the glass wall was locked down properly and the chords beneath the floor began to glow again.

'He doesn't want to escape', Stark summarised.

'Or he knows he's expected to and didn't because he didn't want to play along', Steve said, 'What was this supposed to prove Stark? That he won't take obvious bait?'

'It proves you're right Cap', Stark smiled, ignoring Steve's irritated demeanour or perhaps enjoying it.

'About what?'

'You think it was kinda weird he didn't even pop his head out for a minute just to prove he could? Or the fact he didn't wreck the room or the generator just to show off? Didn't pull a face at the camera? He wants to be in that cell and he wants all this fancy security around him. We don't know exactly why but I bet it's 'cause there's a bigger fish than Fury or Thor out there somewhere that's got him spooked'.

'I'm not sure which comparison should make us more nervous', Banner said, fiddling with his glasses.

'Plenty of arguments for both but, speaking of arguments, maybe you should go in and play nice', Stark said, swivelling in his chair to face Steve, 'Heard you hurt his feelings last night'.

He glanced at Banner.

'He does _have_ feelings right?' he asked.

'Have the paperwork to prove it', Banner nodded.

'And while you do that, we', Stark said, giving two thumbs up, 'the super science brothers, will save the day up here. Let us know if you want that barrier raised again so you two can hug it out'.

'Something tells me he won't be very keen', Steve said smiling as he watched Banner mouth the words 'super science brothers' with a raised eyebrow.

'Don't know about that', Stark said, 'He hasn't put that book down since he woke up'.

'What book?' Steve asked.

The cell had been cleaned of the debris caused by Loki's outburst the day before and a new bed had been installed. The only cosmetic difference was the bedspread was now 'My Little Pony'.  
Loki leapt up from the bed and turned his back on Steve as he sat down in his usual chair.  
Steve noted Loki's stiff movements and hunched shoulders.  
He also noticed the book Loki had thrown away as he had jumped up.  
Looking at it, Steve felt a bit embarrassed by the image the publisher had chosen for the cover.  
It was a picture of him from one of his USO shows and not one of the good ones: judging from the uncomfortable salute and ill-fitting costume it might have been from the first one. Restoring it to colour hadn't helped turn the grimace on his face into what was supposed to be a confident, 'lady-killer' smile.  
He was so busy staring at it, he didn't realise for a few minutes that Loki hadn't moved or spoken.  
The silence hung heavier the more Steve focused on it. 

'I'm sorry about yesterday', Steve said, words echoing awkwardly.

Loki did not respond. 

'Are you ok?' Steve pressed. 

'Why do you care?' came the snappy retort. 

'Because it was my fault', Steve said, 'I upset you'. 

'Don't insult me!' 

Not knowing what strategy to employ, Steve simply said, 'Sorry'.

Then added the word 'Again' lamely. 

Loki gave an annoyed growl. 

'What is wrong with you?! You're not this stupid! You can't be!' Loki ranted, hand gesticulating wildly as he tried to give voice to his frustration, 'Haven't you figured it out?! The stories I've been telling you are all lies! Or is that too difficult for your thick skull to process?!' 

Steve didn't believe this for a second.  
Loki was a gifted liar: far above simple deflection like this.  
Was he scared of getting shocked again? Of Steve prying too far and being powerless to react? Perhaps the shock had been a rude wake-up call like Banner had said?

All the more reason to keep going. 

'If they're all lies then why are we playing the game?' Steve asked calmly, 'You were the one who wanted to play remember? Why not just ignore me?' 

'I could but you would just sit there staring at me anyway!' 

'So why can't we keep playing?' 

'Didn't you hear me?! They're all lies! You've already lost!' 

'Okay then. No game. Let's just talk'. 

'What's the point of me talking to you?!' 

'I dunno but you're still talking to me', Steve shrugged, 'So you must want to tell me something'.

Steve didn't see the surprise on Loki's face at his words.

It was more than his life was worth to tell the soldier anything. He knew that now.

It had been made abundantly clear that if he continued to give him information it would mean his death.  
But then again…in one more day he would be leaving the planet.  
Far, far behind.

Why should he care if his benefactor arrived on Earth looking for him and found the newly dubbed 'Avengers' waiting?  
If they somehow defied the odds (a very likely scenario given Loki's experience with them) and won, Loki wouldn't need to worry about potential repercussions. If they didn't and were destroyed, Loki would be nice and safe on Asgard anyway. Even if he was located, he would have plenty of time to formulate an escape plan while the All Father tried futilely to avenge the inevitable death of his beloved son Thor at Thanos' hands.  
Either prospect would benefit him.  
He had to stop himself gasping in relief.  
How ironic: having his plan thwarted by Earth's so called 'mightiest heroes' had done nothing but help him!  
He felt hysterical laughter threaten to spill out and just about managed to condense it into a low giggle.  
What was the harm in continuing the game?

The soldier seemed to want to play so badly.

If he managed to get information from him, what was the harm?  
And Thanos had not actually defined what he designated as 'important' things that Loki shouldn't tell anybody.

It wasn't as if information was going to help the soldier anyway: it would be like wielding a stick against a meteor.

Steve was about to leave, mistaking Loki's laughter for snide dismissal but stopped when Loki turned around.

His skin had become a bruised looking blue with strange tattoo like markings on his face. His eyes were a deep red with small pupils. Steve noticed paler scars on his cheek and a nasty looking burn scar shining just above his collar line. Loki licked his dry lips and Steve noticed his teeth had become sharper.

Steve was surprised by the change but not unnerved. 

'Makes a change from red or green skin', he commented evenly. 

Loki smiled humourlessly.

As Steve watched, Loki's skin began to change colour. It reminded Steve of the feeling of sinking into a warm bath after being out in the cold. The scars and burn began to fade until they vanished completely. This seemed to give Loki some discomfort as he grimaced slightly. Finally Loki's eyes seemed to go through a strange kind of reverse bleeding as the dark red gave way to their usual blue. 

'A permanent illusion?' Steve asked. 

'Not one of my design', Loki said, examining his hands critically, 'But very effective'. 

Relieved at Loki's more forthcoming mood, Steve asked, 'Are there any others like you?' 

'Far fewer than there used to be', Loki said, smiling as if enjoying a private joke. 

Steve still didn't like that smile.

'You don't seem very sad about that', he said. 

'Don't I?' Loki asked and gave a theatrical stretch as he changed the subject, 'Shall we continue our conversation from yesterday then?' 

'About me?' 

'Only right in the interests of fair play: I 'bared my soul', now you do the same. No distractions this time. I warn you: I'll know if you lie'. 

'You have the book', Steve said, pointing to the discarded volume.

Loki followed Steve's pointing finger and picked up the book from the floor. He dusted it and ensured the pages were undamaged.

The careful analysis inherent in the gesture surprised Steve.

'You didn't write it', Loki said, placing the book back on the bed.

It was true.  
Steve hadn't written it: it had been published very soon after he had woken up.  
Fury had asked him to write an autobiography to 'ease back into the public eye' just in case he was needed urgently. When Steve had asked him what for he had declined to answer.  
Then his therapist had also advised him it would be a good idea: writing his own life story up until that point to make a clean break with it then go about fitting into the 'modern world'.  
Steve had tried but after two weeks of trying to get started, staring at blank pages for twelve hours every day but had finally given up. He hadn't wanted to give the modern world everything yet.  
So Fury had hired a ghost writer who had pieced it together from very limited Q and A sessions with Steve and old records from the Second World War.  
It was an entertaining book (the dramatic story telling deliberately designed to obscure facts Steve didn't want included) with old photographs showing the people involved.  
Upon seeing a picture of Peggy smiling while she discussed something with Dr Erskine Steve had decided he liked it very much.

From the bookstore windows he passed every day, the book's popularity had been drastically increasing following the New York invasion. Just that morning it had taken the much coveted spot previously held by the third of Tony Stark's autobiographies.  
Steve hadn't told him yet.  
He had promised Barton he could drop it into casual conversation and 'watch the fireworks' as the archer had put it.

'Yeah, I'm not very good at stories', Steve said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

'I am', Loki said, 'Start at the beginning; where do you come from?' 

'Right here. Well, above ground and over a coupla streets. The area's called Brooklyn'. 

'When were you recruited as a soldier?' 

'Way after I first started trying'. 

'Why did you apply?' 

'To protect my country'. 

'What other reasons?' 

'There were a lot of other reasons. To travel, get girls-' 

'Do not insult me with such feeble lies', Loki said, holding the book up as if it was a piece of damning evidence, 'What was the real reason?' 

'To prove that no matter how small and weak a person may be they still have the courage to fight back. No matter how big the bully is'. 

'Some would consider that thinking suicidal. Especially for someone your former size'. 

'Even my best friend thought so', Steve conceded. 

'Bucky?' Loki interjected.  
Steve knew Loki had used the name deliberately to get a reaction.  
Steve had asked the author to mention Bucky but leave out specific details. To him the death still felt fresh even if the rest of the world had moved on.  
He resolved to disappoint Loki.

'Yeah', Steve said, 'A lot of people thought so when Dr Erskine chose me to be his test subject'. 

'Why choose you?' 

'I was surprised too. At first I thought he was gonna report me for lying on my registration form'. 

'You lied on an official government form? I'm amazed the shock of the deed didn't kill you'. 

'Actually I lied on several. I was young. Erskine said he chose me because I was a 'good man''. 

'I'm sure this 'Hydra' had a few less flattering names for you'. 

'Probably did. Enjoying the book by the way?' 

'Not much detail in it. And the author's gushing is very distracting. Probably to compensate'. 

'Disappointed?' Steve asked, annoyed but grudgingly impressed Loki had seen though the bluffs in the book. 

'Was war everything you thought it would be?' 

'It was worse'. 

'Not the pleasant picnic you envisioned?' 

'I'd heard the stories. I knew what I was going into'. 

'You regretted leaving home?' 

'No. The same things that sickened me made me realise I'd made the right choice. Evil wins because good men do nothing'. 

'Not everybody has a natural inclination towards it like you do. Let's skip ahead'. 

'How far?' 

'Seventy years give or take. How do you feel in this brave new world?' 

'Old fashioned'. 

'Even obsolete perhaps?' Loki said, smiling again, 'Be honest Captain: sometimes you wish you'd never woken up'. 

Steve said nothing. 

'I know I'm right', Loki said, searching Steve's face hungrily for any hint of emotion, 'You don't recognise this world. Honesty, honour, morals. You see them rusting and crumbling away bit by bit and wonder why nobody else seems to notice or care. You are standing in the ashes of your achievements'. 

'But I'm still standing', Steve said.  
This phrase had become a mantra so often in the last months.  
Any time he felt the culture shock setting in. Any time he felt frustrated with modern technology. Even during the pulse pounding battle he had experienced just a few days before, those words had been running through his head.  
Because as long as he kept repeating them, he was alive.  
He was in control.  
Just as it had hundreds of times before, it worked at this moment, cutting through Loki's words that while cruel, had more than a hint of truth to them.  
That was why they had hurt. 

'This attitude is starting to annoy me', Loki said, annoyed and seemingly ignorant of Steve's rushing thoughts. 

'Attitude?' Steve asked. 

'This delusional optimism. After all you've been through how can you still talk such rubbish?! You have nothing left worth holding onto!' 

'I've got something', Steve said seriously. 

'What's that?' Loki asked, not bothering to hide his scorn.  
Apparently, he didn't expect Steve's answer to be particularly enlightening. 

'You said you wanted me to bare my soul. Okay', Steve said, holding up his hands, 'You listening?' 

'With baited breath'.

'I never learned how to dance'.

Loki eyed him critically. Steve's face remained deadly serious.  
Loki burst out laughing.

Steve laughed as well but only to dispel the lump threatening to form in his throat. It wasn't technically a secret but it was the only promise he had ever broken.  
It felt good to let it out. Not even his therapist knew about it.

The only reason he had told Loki is because he knew he wouldn't believe it. The significance of it would stay safe.

'Your turn' Steve said, 'Tell me why you betrayed Asgard. You talk about morals. Where were yours?'

Loki was distracted by the sound of the door opening.

'Another pathetic attempt to bait me?' he mocked, 'You Midgardians never learn do you?'

A group of soldiers headed by a female agent entered.  
Steve recognised her as the same operative who had been comforting Agent Kelso a few days ago. Loki obviously recognised her judging from the smirk on his face. Perhaps she had been the one to remove Agent Kelso from the cell following her encounter with the prisoner?  
She was a plain looking woman with long dark hair bound in a professional bun and square glasses. She was dressed for active duty: in a black flak combat suit with a pistol holstered at her hip.

He stood up as she saluted him.

'Agent Tanith Captain', she said, 'Loki needs to come with us immediately. We believe there is an imminent threat to his safety'. 

Steve watched the soldiers file past him. They lined up at the glass partition.  
They each held a destroyer gun in both hands, cocked and ready to fire.

'From who?' he asked. 

He suddenly felt an impact in his gut.  
It felt like a mild bump and he realised Tanith had punched him.

Then came crippling pain that seemed to curl up from his stomach and smack him full in the face.  
He gasped as he saw stars dance in front of his eyes and the room spun thrice before he lost consciousness.

Tanith knelt down and checked his pulse.  
She lifted one eyelid carefully and examined the pupil.

Minimal response.  
He wouldn't be out for long.  
Tanith stood and after stepping over Steve's body, stared Loki down. 

'Hello again Loki', she said, 'I'd appreciate it if you did not resist us'.

'Define 'resist',' Loki said coolly. 

'Avoid impeding us in our mission and calmly and cooperatively allow us to transport you to a secure location for questioning', she stated. 

'Cooperation is not in my nature', Loki smiled, shrugging, 'But if you would like to open this cell we can discuss-' 

'Your consciousness is not a requirement,' she said and suddenly slammed a hand on the button controlling the Asgardian generator, 'Besides…'

Loki screamed as he was shocked again and once more, crumpled to the floor in an undignified state of unconsciousness. 

'Negotiation is not in _my_ nature', she concluded, eyeing Loki's twitching body as she touched a communication bud in her ear, 'This is Viper. We have him. Returning to base.  
Hail Hydra'. 


	7. Gold Part I

The soft sensation of a breeze upon his face coaxed Loki back to the world of consciousness.  
He was standing but not by choice.  
Thick leather straps bound his ankles and wrists, lashing him to a flat metal surface.  
He tested the strength of the straps but they did not budge.  
So his captors had access to Asgardian technology.  
SHIELD perhaps? Disgruntled inhabitants of New York city?  
Putting aside the question of 'who' for a moment, Loki focused on 'where'.  
He could move his head without restriction but felt an unfamiliar weight resting on his neck as his head swivelled.  
He was in a warehouse of some sort. Old machinery and conveyor belts lined the walls and rain was drifting in through the broken windows high above. A couple of pigeons were roosting in the rafters and rusty transport chains hung from beams. He could hear the distant noise of heavy traffic outside and the sky was overcast.

As full wakefulness returned, he became aware of a pair of hushed voices.  
They weren't speaking English.  
Following the sound, he saw two guards nearby. They were wearing SHIELD armour and carrying Destroyer guns. The lack of helmets enabled him to identify them as two of the guards who had escorted him to the gym a couple of days earlier.  
There was a thought.  
How long had he been unconscious? Had his captors relocated him to another country?  
He tried to ask the guards where he was but thanks to the after effects of the Asgardian stun magic, it came out as a series of hoarse croaks.

'What's he babbling about?' one guard asked his colleague.

'Don't know. Don't care', the second guard said.

Loki cleared his throat, both to attract their attention and to form words better.

'I said 'Midgardian hospitality is drastically overrated'', Loki said, converting his words to flawless German.

He smirked at their dumbfounded expressions.

'You might want to try speaking something more challenging: Pig Latin perhaps?' Loki said, 'Since you obviously don't want me to hear what you're saying'.

'He speaks German?' one of the guards said with surprise.

'Not quite', came a voice from the doorway.

Loki saw it was the same 'SHIELD' agent that had knocked him unconscious. Much as he had enjoyed watching the soldier be taken down by a woman half his size, he couldn't say the same for the treatment she'd given him afterwards.  
He wondered where the soldier was. Had they left him back at the SHIELD base?  
And just how had the woman subdued him? Was she enhanced in some way or had it been due to a combination of technology and the soldier's relaxed guard?

'It's the Asgardian 'All-Speech' ability', the operative said appraisingly as she approached, 'Does exactly what it says on the tin'.

She held up her left hand, showing Loki a ring on her finger.  
A black stone was set into the silver band. As the woman rotated a hidden dial, an insignia shone on the stone's surface: a white skull with tentacles coiling under it.

'My name is Viper' she said, voice swapping seamlessly from German to English, 'And I think you know who I work for'.

Loki nodded as she lowered her hand.

'I think I also know now who put that autobiography in my cell', he said, 'It casts you in a rather bad light. Then again, history, victors, etcetera'.

'They declared victory. We did not admit defeat', Viper shrugged, 'A situation I'm sure you can understand'.

Loki said nothing.  
Viper didn't seem to mind his silence.

'Don't worry, you don't have to say anything. Yet. Do you know what's around your neck?'

Loki shifted slightly, gauging the weight.  
There was only one ignominious word for such an object: a collar.  
It was heavy but not unbearably so. The fit was loose enough that it could move slightly away from his skin but not wide enough it could be lifted over his head. It had also been locked: he could hear and feel the small chain affixed to the clasp tinkle when he moved his neck. He could also feel the slight thrumming undercurrent that Asgardian magic always gave off.

'Is SHIELD aware Asgard is trading technology with you as well?' Loki asked.

'This item was intercepted by our organization', Viper said, pointing to the collar, 'It was designed for SHIELD to keep you compliant when they let you out for exercise. Fury is of the opinion the Asgardians refused to hand it over. They're convinced Fury's using any excuse to get his hands on more of them'.

'Notions I assume you had a hand in?' Loki asked.

Viper shrugged but her smile was all the confirmation he needed.

'So why am I here?' Loki asked, rolling his eyes.

'We have some questions for you but I didn't feel like asking them in a room monitored twenty-four hours a day'.

'And you knew a simple change of scenery wouldn't be enough to make me any more willing to answer them', Loki added, 'By the way how does abducting a prisoner from a monitored cell make sense? Showing off how clever you are for anyone watching?'

'If there was anyone watching, all they were looking at was you in a cell reading', Viper said, 'You were so engrossed in the book we got plenty of footage to loop'.

'Clever. Not so clever was putting this on me and expecting me to cooperate'.

'Just a precaution. Same with the cameras'.

Loki followed her pointing finger as it indicated a camera positioned above them. It moved robotically, sweeping the room.

'We can negotiate these if you answer my questions', Viper said.

Loki's eyes narrowed.  
Fine, he'd play along for now.  
This collar was like the floor in his cell: as long as he didn't physically or magically try to attack anyone he'd be fine.  
Besides he was curious as to what Hydra wanted.  
Why risk being recognised by none other than Captain America himself just to get to him?  
He supposed he should feel flattered.

'Let's have your questions then', Loki said snidely, 'At least try to make them interesting'.

'We want to know about this', Viper said as she clicked her fingers.

The double doors opened.

A Hydra scientist (judging from the labcoat) entered, pushing a trolley.  
A glass case was sitting on it.  
Inside an object was floating, held in place with some kind of electrical field.

It was his sceptre.

Loki raised an eyebrow, appearing nonchalant, even as he felt sweat begin to drip down his forehead. Thanos could track the sceptre's location: if he decided to come looking for him, Loki didn't want to be anywhere near it.  
Apparently neither did the scientist. He let go of the trolley as if it might bite him and scurried away without a word.

'It's a sceptre', Loki deadpanned, 'I suppose I shouldn't expect commoners to recognise one'.

'It's not just a sceptre though is it?' Viper prompted.

'In the right hands, no'.

'How does it work?'

'It doesn't. Not for you. Why not hand it to me? I'll gladly demonstra-'

He yelped as a searing pain jabbed his neck.  
The two guards laughed unpleasantly.

Viper's smile widened, finger hovering over a button on an innocuous looking remote she was holding.  
The shock had come from the collar.

'That's a warning', she said, 'A friendly one. Now: how does it work?'

'Fairy dust and happy thoughts', Loki spat.

The shock came again.  
Loki gave a muffled growl of pain: teeth gritted against the burning sensation.  
He had the unpleasant inkling this was not the worst of the collar's settings.

'And you're just bursting with those aren't you?' Viper grinned.

'Tell me, does opening negotiations like this usually yield productive results?!' Loki snapped.

'You did the same thing a few days ago', Viper said, crossing her arms, 'I don't recall New York getting invited to a meeting table'.

'Difference is I was not expecting cooperation from my enemies'.

'So we're to be enemies then?' Viper sighed, 'Disappointing'.

'No', Loki grinned, despite the sweat rolling down his brow, ''Enemies' implies we are equals. Your predecessors couldn't defeat a jumped up skinny runt from Brooklyn. How are you to best a god?'

The shock came again. This time it was not restricted to just his neck.  
Loki gasped as his stomach roiled and he spat out sour saliva.

Viper watched with distaste as she spoke:

'I don't like to repeat myself but I'll make an exception since you obviously don't understand your situation. How does the sceptre work?'

'Do you know how to work that machine over there?' Loki asked, nodding towards one a old bottling machine.

Viper did not answer, allowing him to provide context for the change of subject.

'I'm sure you all know how to 'use' it but that doesn't mean you know how it works or how it's made', Loki elaborated, 'That sceptre was a 'gift' created by another far more skilled than I (and I don't say that lightly). I have no idea how it works'.

'A typical answer from the god of lies', Viper said.

Loki laughed bitterly.  
'Typical'.

Even when he told the truth nobody believed him.  
So why even bother?

'Why should I lie when telling you the truth is so much more fun?' Loki smirked.

He maintained the smirk defiantly even as Viper's eyes turned icy.  
He knew what was probably coming but torture lost its sting when you realised you were telling the truth. It was like being beaten up for saying grass was green. No matter how hard they punched, they were powerless to change this simple fact.  
Who knew? The truth really did set you free.  
And when he _was_ free, he would enjoy showing Viper just how powerless she truly was.

'I have a better question', Viper said coldly, 'If you don't know anything important, what use are you to us?'

Loki watched Viper's thumb swirl over the button controlling his collar.  
She fancied herself in charge. Untouchable.  
Just the way he liked his opponents.  
A Viper? Hah! She was little more than a worm!

'I said I don't know how the sceptre works', Loki elaborated, 'But I know other things. I'll even tell you. For the right price'.

'Why the sudden change of heart?' Viper mused.

She was paranoid but intrigued.  
Good.

'You must know I have no more love for SHIELD than you do', Loki said simply.

'Go on', Viper said graciously.

'I will. But', Loki said, eyes darting towards Viper's counterparts, 'let us discuss my price first'.

Viper gestured for him to continue.

'I would like to see the soldier', Loki said, grinning malignantly for effect, 'To _repay_ him for his kindness'.

It was a logical explanation for him wanting to see Steve: the best kind of lie.

If he was elsewhere in the warehouse, perhaps Loki could enlist his help in escaping.

Or in teaching these fools a most satisfying lesson.

A scowl of annoyance appeared on Viper's face.

'Believe me, I would have loved to have had the opportunity myself', she said, 'Unfortunately he wasn't part of the mission'.

Loki felt his stomach sink.

If Steve was dead that was going to make escaping a bit harder than he'd thought.

But, if he wasn't 'part of the mission', then was he dead?

Loki shrugged in a deliberately airy fashion.

'Shame. Still I'd settle for seeing his body', he said, 'If you kept it?'

Viper shook her head. Dissatisfaction was written all over her face.

'I was under orders to leave Steve Rogers untouched', she said, 'We left him where he fell. Despite my fervent objections'.

Steve was alive.

But not here.

Which meant Loki was on his own for now: save of course, for an entire retinue of hardened soldiers armed with Destroyer guns and a woman literally holding his life in her hand.

It was a good thing he was used to the odds being against him.

'Unfortunate indeed', Loki said breezily, 'Still, if you wouldn't mind undoing these shackles now-'

Viper gave a guffaw of laughter that did not reach her eyes.

'You seriously think I'm going to let a creature like you loose just because you tell me what I want to hear?' she said, 'Don't insult me'.

Fine.  
Enough with the pleasantries.

'I'll give you an insult you mewling qu-' Loki growled.

The shock was much stronger this time.  
Loki's head snapped back and he cried out through gritted teeth. His fingers spasmed as his nails cut into his palms. His back tried to arch but couldn't because of the straps and he could feel his heart pounding against his ribs.  
Suddenly the pain was gone. Loki's body went limp: like a puppet with its strings cut.  
He glared at Viper with undisguised hatred now but she met his anger with a dispassionate gaze.

'I took English lit', she said, 'I know what that word means. You kiss your mother with that mouth?'

She tossed the remote up in the air and caught it tauntingly before concluding:

'Does a monster like you even _have_ a mother?'

Loki snarled at her, wishing with all his heart he could spit venom.  
Viper smiled at his feral response.  
Loki hated that smile: it was as if he had just proven her right about something.

'I'll be back later for another chat', Viper said as if she were making an appointment to meet for afternoon tea, 'I expect your cooperation'.

She clicked her fingers and one of the guards took hold of the trolley and began to push it. He and Viper headed towards a set of double doors leading off the factory floor.

Just as they reached the doors, she stopped, hand hovering over the door handle.

She smiled sweetly over her shoulder at Loki.

'But _please_ disappoint me', she said.

Then she was gone, leaving Loki alone with one guard.

Loki was dismayed to find he was both a talker and acquainted with him.

'Just you and me now Pony Boy', the guard mocked, 'She thinks you're a golden ticket but we both know better right? Soon as she realises you're useless, I'll put you out of your misery'.

He primed the Destroyer gun for effect. It kicked into life with a heavy noise, the barrel glowing orange in deadly readiness.

Loki gave no reaction.  
Because he was not listening.

He stared fixedly at the surveillance camera watching them and watched intently as subtle green glimmers began to obscure the surface of the lens.  
The collar, detecting no harmful magic or attempts by Loki to escape, ignored the illusionary casting just as Loki had hoped it would.  
Viper was not the only one who could make sure nobody was watching.

'Nothin' to say?' the guard prompted, irritated by Loki's lack of response, 'How about now?'

Loki, satisfied the camera was no longer an issue, looked down the barrel of the gun.  
He could feel the heat emanating from the core of the weapon.  
He could not blame the guard for his enjoyment of the power at his disposal: Loki had felt the same when controlling the actual Destroyer.  
Loki could also not blame the guard for relishing his powerless state: Loki had appreciated seeing Thor trapped on the helicarrier like an insect beneath a glass.  
But he could blame the guard for being so stupid as to think he could insult him and get away with it.

'Isn't suicide frowned upon on this planet?' Loki quipped.

He allowed his eyes to travel suggestively downwards and raised an eyebrow.

'Or are you simply confusing your gun with something else you want to point at me?' he said, licking his lips crudely.

Obviously knowing he couldn't blow Loki's head off right then and there without reprisal from Viper, the guard took one hand off the destroyer gun and backhanded the prisoner across the face.  
A mistake.  
Loki smiled at both the flimsy blow and the guard's hoarse groan of pain.  
This was going to be easier than he thought.  
White faced, the guard stiffly returned his hand to his side, mouth tight and nostrils flaring.  
Some of the guard's fingers were not clenching with the others. One seemed to be bent the wrong way.  
The Destroyer gun remained in one hand and Loki knew it could not be fired safely without two.

'What hurts more?' Loki asked.

'The broken fingers?' came a second voice.

The guard turned around, detecting the voice was coming from behind him.  
Another mistake.

Loki was somehow now in front of him.  
The guard fumbled as he tried to raise the gun but cried out at the weight upon his damaged fingers.

'Your pride?' the second Loki said, taking a step forward.

The guard reflexively stepped back.  
This was the mistake the real Loki had been waiting for.  
It was the last one the guard ever made.

Loki threw his head forward and smashed his forehead into the back of the guard's skull.  
The guard's neck collapsed beneath the sudden pressure. The hard bone of the skull split like dry wood and the guard gave an odd gurgling groan.  
Loki could feel stickiness on his forehead as his nose filled with the smell of blood.

'Or perhaps that?' the illusionary Loki asked as the body slumped to the floor.

The copy simply stepped over it.  
Loki looked at his copy with satisfaction but with no small amount of regret.  
It was a perfect physical copy but like any lie, it lacked substance. It was not corporeal so it could not get the guard's key or loosen his shackles. But it could pass through walls and act as his eyes and ears elsewhere.  
Eyes darting between the guard's cooling body and his copy, Loki began to change its form.

'Must I do everything myself?!' both he and the copy asked in unison.


	8. Gold Part II

Meanwhile, back at SHIELD's bookstore base, Steve was coming to.  
He winced at the stinging pain in his gut where the woman had struck him.  
Loki was gone but the glass partition had not been damaged or smashed to get to him.

That meant the group had access codes for the cell: an inside job. Or someone in SHIELD had a grudge.  
How long had he been out? Had nobody seen anything?

He ran upstairs to where he had left Banner and Stark.  
There had been a struggle.  
Both chairs had been overturned and papers were scattered about the floor. Several monitors on the wall had been smashed.  
Stark was bent over a keyboard, typing furiously.

He heard Steve approach.

'Little hiccup in security Cap. Lemme guess, we're down one prisoner?'

'Where the heck is Banner?!' asked Steve.

If Banner had been there, the intruders wouldn't have even gotten close to the cell!

'Sent him out to get coffee about twenty minutes ago', Stark said.

'What's wrong with the vending machine?!' Steve asked, gesturing at the nearby coffee dispenser.

'What's right with the vending machine?' asked Stark without looking at him.

'Enough jokes Stark!' Steve snapped, physically Stark around to look at him.

Stark took a deep breath: he seemed to be internally counting to five. That rubbed Steve the wrong way. Why wasn't he worried about this?! A prisoner going missing right under their noses?

'Don't get your star spangled panties in a bunch Cap, we snuck a little surprise in while Loki was under. We'll find him'.

'How?'

'Tracking device', Stark said as if were there most obvious thing in the world, 'See?'

He gestured to the monitor and pressed a button. A map of the area appeared with a bot blinking red on the screen.

'Tracking device?' Steve asked incredulously.

'Fury's idea. Banner stuck it in his neck when he was under for that medical exam'.

'If you had your way we'd all have those things in us', Steve groused.

'Hey, let's debate about Big Brother Tony Stark later ok?' Stark said and smiled when he looked at the radar, 'We've struck gold Captain. He's still in the area'.

'Good. Call Banner and let's go'.

'Can't: he hasn't got a phone', Stark said, visibly annoyed at the fact, 'You're not the only one rejecting the 21st century'.

He tossed Steve something from a drawer. Steve looked at it.  
It was easy enough to read: the direction and the number of meters to Loki's location was clearly displayed.  
By the looks of things, the abductors had taken him to the waterfront: probably holed up in one of the old factories. 

'You coming?' Steve asked, as he noticed Stark sit back down. 

'No'.

'Why not?!' Steve asked.

From Stark's raised eyebrow the question had come out harsher than Steve had intended it to. 

'Because I'm getting Fury on the horn and telling him to seal off the area before New York gets destroyed again', Stark said calmly, 'I'll catch up with you'.

He swivelled around to face the screens again, typing in a host of numbers and letters that obviously meant something to Stark but nothing to Steve.

'Then you can lecture me about hacking into SHIELD's files to get Fury's cell number', Stark concluded.

The logic of Stark's plan smashed a hole through Steve's irritation.  
Why was he giving Stark a hard time?

It wasn't Stark's fault.  
It was his for letting his guard down.  
Heck, Stark had even tried to fight back: that was a beauty of a bruise on his forehead and that was just the injury Steve could see.  
He remembered he'd asked Stark what he was without his suit on the helicarrier and here he was getting angry at him for being human under it.

That's when Steve realised why he was angry.

He was angry with himself for not seeing it coming.  
It was his mistake to fix.

'I'm sorry', Steve said gently, 'Good plan'.

'Gotta learn to roll with things Cap. Avoid stress', Stark said without turning around, 'After all you're not as young as you used to be'.

Pleased to hear Stark's usual offbeat humour return, Steve ran up the stairs, through the long corridor and emerged into the night.

Steve followed the beacon to the docks.  
This part of town had seen better days. It brought back memories. The last time Steve had been here, had been the day of the experiment that had made him. He had chased a Hydra agent through the neighbourhood to the factories here. They had formerly employed hundreds of people. Now only seagulls, fishermen and hobos had reason to visit the run down area.  
The kidnappers had chosen a good hiding spot.  
Steve just hoped they hadn't left by boat.  
The beacon led to an old shipping company warehouse.  
The huge doors were secured with a chain but Steve doubted this was the only security.  
An Asgardian prisoner was one heck of a house guest.  
Checking for points of entry, he spotted an old crane sitting in the yard. A chain dangled from it, close enough to a hole in the roof for Steve to get in.  
Turning off the beacon's volume to avoid detection from the incessant beeping, Steve climbed the crane and grabbed the chain.

Dropping down from the rafters, Steve crouched behind a pile of boxes.  
Unlike some of the machinery sitting in dusty corners, these boxes were new. Military weapon cases stamped with their destination names: whatever was in these was being shipped worldwide. Judging from the biohazard logo, they were also bad news.  
He had to play this quiet. Wait for backup.  
Which meant a change of clothes.  
It didn't take him long to select his target. The environment made it easy to grab the guard when he had made his way down a narrow passage between two huge stacks of the crates. Steve finished tucking his unconscious body into a janitorial closet and checked the pockets of his new uniform.  
He was pleased to find a keycard in the breast pocket marked 'High Level Clearance'. It was a good start. He also had a rifle but no extra clips. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it.  
He subtly took out the beacon and checked it but it was no longer working. The little light that flashed had gone dull. Steve turned up the volume slightly and instead of the beeping he was used to, got hissing static. He turned it off completely.

'Old fashioned way it is', he said quietly to himself.

He passed a couple of other guards on patrol who didn't look at him twice. The place was certainly heavily guarded enough to be holding Loki. There were also a few select guards carrying what Steve knew to be destroyer guns.  
Just as he was working out his next steps, he heard a voice behind him.

'Stop moving', it said, 'Keep your hands where I can see them'.

Steve obeyed, wondering what had given him away. His face wasn't covered but this man had come from behind him so couldn't have seen that.

'Walk', the soldier behind him commanded.

Steve, in his peripheral vision, saw the barrel of the soldier's gun jerk a towards a corridor to the side.

Steve obeyed.  
Until they entered the maintenance corridor and he saw there were no cameras.  
Turning on his heel, he reached with both hands for the soldier's shoulders.  
He was shocked when they phased right through.  
His first thought was a ridiculous one: a ghost?  
But as the shock faded, reality and logic resumed.

'Loki?' Steve asked in disbelief.

'Do you want to say that any louder?' the soldier hissed.

'Where's your real body?'

'Upstairs', Loki said, motioning Steve to fall into step beside him.

They marched side by side down the hall, retracing the illusion's route.

'I assume the rest of the cavalry will be arriving presently?' Loki asked.

'I'm it. For now at least'.

Loki shook his head and scoffed.

'I suppose I should feel offended'.

'Any idea what's going on?' Steve asked as they began to climb the stairs.

'They want me to tell them how to work my sceptre'.

'They have it?' Steve asked, pausing in surprise, 'It's supposed to be with SHIELD's research division'.

'Intriguing isn't it?' Loki said conspiratorially.

Steve picked up the pace.

'We need to find it', he said, thoughts racing, 'Any idea where they keep it?'

'I assume a lab of some sort but never mind that, we have to get me loose first'.

'Wait!' Steve said, halting at the top of the stairs, 'It's too risky. If they notice you're missing, it'll put the whole place on alert'.

Loki gave a snarl of impatience.

'I can leave an illusion in my place once I'm free!' he said, 'Now come on!'

Loki pushed past him hastily, blurring due to the bodily contact. Steve watched as he phased through a metal security gate and through a large door past it. After a brief moment of hesitant ambivalence, Steve followed, using his keycard to unlock the doors manually.

The real Loki gave as much of a wave as his bonds would allow when Steve entered.  
The illusionary soldier stood to attention beside its master.  
Steve saw a bloodied corpse lying in front of Loki. It lay face down. The back of the head had been caved in, brain matter and hair matted with gooey blood.  
Even as a veteran soldier, Steve had trouble looking at it.

'Did you do that?' he asked.

Loki raised one sardonic eyebrow signalling he didn't consider the question worthy of a response.

'He's from SHIELD', Steve said, 'One of your guards'.

'I refer you to my previous answer', Loki said, 'He's also not worth your concern'.

'So it's true', Steve thought, 'SHIELD is in on it. But if Loki was chained up, how-'

'How did you kill him?' Steve asked, the imminent thought converting to spoken words.

Was Loki in league with this group?  
Was this a trap?!

'Easily', Loki smirked, 'And enjoyably'.

'Answer me', Steve said warningly, 'Doesn't that collar they put on you stop you from hurting anybody?'

Loki saw the ice in Steve's eyes and decided to convert to straight answers.

'It stops my magical abilities, not my physical strength', Loki explained slowly, 'That's why they've tied me down. The fool shouldn't have gotten so close'.

'If I let you loose, can I count on you?'

'I won't run if that's what you mean. I have business here. Collar or no collar'.

'That's not an answer Loki. I _need_ to know that I can trust you'.

Loki laughed.  
Trust him?!

'You thought you could trust SHIELD', Loki said, swallowing his laughter with difficulty, 'Which do you prefer: a knife at your back or a sword above your head?'

'I prefer you in a cell', Steve said coldly.

'Fair point', Loki smiled humourlessly before grimacing, 'These straps are beginning to chafe'.

Steve looked him right in the eyes, stepping over the corpse.  
He was gratified to see Loki subconsciously move his head back.  
It meant he was listening.

'If I let you loose, it's my mission', Steve stated, 'You follow my orders. Help me destroy the weapons and once we're out of here, you return to SHIELD custody'.

'No threats?' Loki asked, 'No 'or elses'?'

'You know the situation', Steve said, 'I'm not wasting any more time here. Now is it a deal or not?'

'Either way I will be a prisoner. At least your way I get to stretch my legs first. It's a deal'.

'Then give me your word'.

'I swear that I will help you destroy the weapons and return to SHIELD custody once we are finished', Loki promised and hastily added, 'Without a fight'.

'And?' Steve prompted.

Loki sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

'And I also swear I will not kill a single person', Loki recited wearily, 'Satisfied?'

'Alright', Steve said, swallowing his misgivings, 'This is probably alarmed so be ready'.

Steve moved behind Loki and quickly found the clasps securing the straps. He wrenched them off, two at Loki's wrists and two attached to his ankles.  
Though he had anticipated it, the alarm blaring still made his heart race.  
Loki snapped off the remnants of his bonds but cried out in pain when he tried to touch his collar.  
Steve tried to break it but, while suffering no shock himself, Loki gave another pained grimace and pushed him away.  
The collar couldn't be removed by force.  
To make matters worse, both of them could hear heavy footsteps approaching from outside the room.

'Remember: no killing', Steve said, readying his gun.

'Agreed', Loki said, placing a hand on Steve's gun, 'But let me try something first'.

'What's your plan?' Steve asked, lowering his weapon.

'My word is my bond', Loki said, 'But they are also a weapon of choice'.

Steve watched as Loki's body began to blur.  
Within two seconds, a woman was standing in his place.  
He recognised her as the agent who had knocked him unconscious in Loki's cell.

Loki breathed a sigh of relief.  
He hadn't been able to change shape while strapped down but as he suspected, it had been because of the straps, not the collar.  
It worked the same as his cell: his shapeshifting and other non-violent magic was not blocked.

Before Steve could ask Loki more about his plan, five armed soldiers burst into the room. Two had destroyer guns.  
Steve saw their eyes flick between the empty stretcher where Loki should have been chained up, to the corpse on the floor then back to them.  
'Viper' suddenly leapt into action.

'What took you so long?!' she snapped, 'Loki's escaped! Get going!'

The soldiers looked hesitant.  
Steve swallowed. These soldiers obviously knew about Loki's abilities. They weren't going to buy Loki's lie.  
Evidently Loki felt the same.

'Ugh!' Viper groaned, 'It's me you idiots! He can't change form with that collar on! Find him before he escapes or you'll end up just like him!'

She jabbed a finger at the corpse.  
That was all the convincing the soldiers needed.  
They turned around and marched out in a group, the two armed with Asgardian weaponry moving to the front.

'I'm impressed', Steve said, 'But why not create a duplicate? Now the whole base is on alert'.

'Lies work better if you mix a bit of truth in with them', Loki said, 'It's easier to sneak around in noise than silence. We're just lucky they don't know what this collar can and can't do'.

It didn't take them long to find the lab.  
Loki easily followed the magical signature of his sceptre downstairs to the correct room.  
Steve used his keycard to enter, Loki leading the way.

'Didn't you hear the alarm?!' she barked at the six scientists inside, 'Get out!'

The scientists got the message faster than the soldiers and filed out.  
Steve locked the door behind them.  
The sceptre was still in the glass case Loki had seen it in earlier.

'Can you still use it?' Steve asked him.

'Why?' Loki asked, legitimately surprised but also nervous.

He hadn't expected Steve to let him anywhere near the sceptre which suited him just fine! But now, here he was asking him to use it?!

'Can you do…whatever you did to us on the helicarrier to the soldiers here? We could get out while they fight amongst themselves'.

Loki knew what Steve was referring to.  
His period of captivity on the helicarrier had not been good for the so called 'Avengers'' team building.

'Much as I appreciate this style of plan, I did nothing on the helicarrier', Loki said.

'With or without the sceptre?' Steve asked.

'I'm not being obtuse', Loki said with a flash of irritation, 'I didn't need to do anything. All I had to do was sit there'.

Loki examined the control panel for the case.

'You ever hear of golden apples?' he asked.

'Not really the time for a story', Steve said, eyes darting to the door momentarily.

'It's a metaphor', Loki said, 'Besides we can't go anywhere until I get this open so you may as well answer'.

'By golden apples, do you mean like in Greek mythology?' Steve asked, 'They cause chaos'.

'But an apple just sits there. The reactions of the people around it cause the chaos. You see my point? Ah!'

Loki smiled triumphantly as he located the right button. The panel opened to reveal a screen that required a palm print for authorisation.

'When everyone expects you to cause trouble, very often you don't have to do anything', Loki concluded with just a hint of resentment.

He placed Viper's palm on the screen.  
The computer, detecting the correct fingerprints, unlocked the case.  
Loki gestured for Steve to take the sceptre.  
Steve took it. It felt colder than he expected and it glowed faintly as his fingers closed around it.

'It's heavier than it looks', Steve mused.

'I know', Loki agreed.  
Suddenly he saw a red flash reflected in the golden tip.  
Like the red dot that appeared when-  
Loki shoved Steve down out of the way just in time. The bullet shattered the glass case they had been standing in front of.  
As both of them began to stand back up, the door was kicked open.  
Viper was leading the larger group of soldiers, holstering her dot sight pistol.

'The scientists you ordered out knew who you were instantly', she said, 'They picked up the energy readings on their monitors'.

The soldiers filed in. Steve counted ten but no destroyer guns.  
He looked at the various chemistry sets and realised the various bottles must hold volatile chemicals.  
He could hear the humming of destroyer guns outside the door though.

'Take the one that looks like Steve Rogers', Viper commanded, 'Leave my doppleganger to me. Steve Rogers is mine'.

'How can you be sure which one's which?' one of the soldiers piped up.

Viper scowled at him.

'Which is more likely?' she asked him, 'Loki pushing Steve Rogers out of the way of harm or the other way around? Alright Loki, we've had our fun. Now hand over the sceptre'.

'Don't do it Loki!' the Viper doppleganger cried, 'I know she has that remote but you can't let her control you!'

Steve looked at Loki, still disguised as Viper.  
Loki gave him a meaningful look.  
Steve got the message.

Steve stood up and twirled the sceptre in an off handed manner.

'I was wondering when you'd get here', he said, 'Captivity was proving rather dull. You understand?'

'Of course', Viper smiled sweetly, 'But you killed one of my best men on the way out. I'm curious. How'd you do it?'

'Easily', Steve said, mimicking Loki's trademark smirk, 'And enjoyably'.

Viper took out the remote.

'You know what this does', Viper says, 'I'd rather not humiliate you further but I will use it if need be. Last chance, because you were such good bait for Captain Rogers'.

'You think you know all about me', Steve said, 'Tell me soldier, you know me better, do you think her little remote frightens me? Do you think I will hesitate because of it?'

Loki understood the hidden message in Steve's words despite Steve's arrogant posturing act for Viper.  
 _She's going to press that button. Do I have your permission to let you be hurt? I need a distraction to get closer to her._

'I think it does', Loki said, steeling himself for what was to come, 'But that's never stopped you before'.

'I thought not', Steve said and lunged for Viper.

She jabbed the button on the remote.

Loki screamed at the high voltage and transformed back into himself, his concentration broken.  
Viper's eyes widened as she realised her mistake.  
She tried to dodge Steve's incoming attack but he already wrestled the remote from her hand.  
Steve clenched his fist and crushed it.  
Then he wrenched Viper's arm behind her back and manoeuvred her to act as a human shield.

'You ok Loki?' he asked, eyes on the soldiers pointing their guns at him but unwilling to fire because of Viper's position.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers went flying through the doorway.  
Every gun swivelled to Loki's position and the origin of the guard's unexpected take off.  
Loki reached up and broke the now useless collar with one tug. The bits of the collar fell to the ground with faint tinkling noises. The remote had also been the lock.  
Loki was up, mobile and very angry.

'I'll live' came the snarling reply.

'Long enough to regret this?' Steve heard Viper whisper, just as he himself was thrown over the much smaller woman's shoulder.  
He landed on his back with a thud. The sceptre slid away from his grip.  
Winded, he felt himself being lifted from the ground, then the strange sensation of flying.  
He was thrown out of the doorway and skidded across the warehouse floor.  
He hit his head on a crate of weapons ready to be shipped.

'Kill Loki!' he heard Viper yell from the lab, 'I'll deal with Rogers!'

He got to his feet and readied himself.

'Enhanced', he groaned, 'Okay. Great'.

'Not enhanced', came Viper's correction, 'Equipped'.

As she approached him, she pulled off her jacket. Her arms were covered in strange, segmented plates of armour that ended at her hands. As he watched, she clapped her gloved hands. An electrical current began to ripple over the metal.

'I remember', he said grimly.  
His stomach was still twinging from the punch she had previously given him.

The thing Loki liked about laboratories was the sheer amount of sharp objects available.  
He was keeping his promise to Steve but was relishing the opportunity to be inventive with his takedowns. Attacks centred on the joints, the eyes and the ears. Devastating but nothing too fancy.  
A squad of ten was a challenge but Loki had the advantage of speed, strength, skill and most crucially, wounded pride to help him. It was pure chaos in the lab. The problem with being outnumbered was that against a single opponent, very often you just got in your friend's way while trying to find the target. A fact Loki had exploited by swiftly shapeshifting into each and every man then striking the original down from an unexpected position before changing forms again.  
Downing his fifth opponent with a back handed slap that shattered two ribs, he sighted his real targets. The two guards with the destroyer guns had been forced to enter the lab when they had seen the squad size dwindling but still couldn't use the guns because of the chemicals. Bad mistake.  
Levitating a scalpel, Loki flicked it at the gas canister one of them had attached to his belt. It tore through the can and the noxious cloud of tear gas began to spread. Visibility vanished and so did Loki. Transforming into a magpie, he flew above the cloud and out the door before spinning round, resuming human form and slamming the door shut once more. He grabbed a nearby pipe on the wall and wrenched it free. He twisted it round the door handle, listening to the desperate banging from within the lab.  
Satisfied there would be no further interruptions from the guards, he turned his attention to Steve's situation.

Steve threw another crate at Viper.  
The fight was going okay.  
The amount of crates provided him with plenty of ammo as well as good cover. Viper was relentless though, her augmented strength allowing her to easily deflect or destroy incoming projectiles.  
The electrical current and its incapacitating effect was the issue but Steve had a plan for that.  
Ducking behind another crate, Steve listened for Viper's approach.  
As she rounded the corner, Steve broke cover, moving just slow enough to goad her into chasing him. She obliged, face lighting up as she caught sight of her prey.  
Steve suddenly found he couldn't go any further: a brick wall loomed ahead of him reinforced with large, condensation covered pipes that spat steam.  
He heard Viper laugh behind him and turned, back against one of the pipes. It felt cold even through his borrowed uniform.

'They wanted you alive', she said with glee, 'But it's not my fault if you insist on dying'.

She ran towards him, arm cocked back, ready to throw a punch.  
Steve made a show of looking left and right for any escape.  
Viper was six feet away.  
Steve braced himself.  
Three feet away.  
Two.  
Now!  
Steve stepped once to the left.  
Viper couldn't stop her movement.  
She punched right through the pipe.  
Water spurted out in a torrent, soaking her from head to foot.  
She cursed as she yanked her arm free then stared in dismay as her electrical current shorted out and died.  
Teeth clenched, she threw another punch at Steve. He caught it. It was hard and strong but no longer a problem.  
He pulled her forward and threw her against the wall.  
Viper threw her legs forward and backflipped way from the wall. She landed back into an attacking stance, bouncing up to strike. She leapt and kicked at Steve's head but Steve grabbed her ankle. Spinning with momentum, she caught his jaw with her other foot. Steve was knocked back, spitting blood from a bruised lip. Her boots were armoured too.  
But armour could be broken.  
Steve deliberately left himself open and as expected, Viper was quick to exploit it.  
She came in close and Steve closed the trap.  
He grabbed both her arms, forced them to her sides and began to squeeze.  
Viper gasped, not in pain but in angered surprise as she saw her armour begin to crack, the segments breaking off one by one.  
She kicked Steve in the shin in a bid to get free but only got a pained grunt in response.  
Suddenly she stopped struggling, eyes widening at something over Steve's shoulder.  
Steve physically lifted her and turned her around so he could look at what was worrying her.  
Loki was standing there.  
Viper began to struggle even harder, grunting with the exertion.  
Steve watched Loki envelope a huge pile of the weapons crates in a green bubble. It rose into the air.  
Loki clapped his hands and the bubble suddenly contracted. Metal and wood buckled into a useless mass of broken pieces. Loki popped the bubble and there was a horrendous, ringing noise as the perfect sphere hit the ground. It rested in its own impact crater.  
Loki looked at the pair then back at the sphere.  
The lack of effort in the destruction was chilling.

'You set that monster free', Viper whispered, the fear in her voice obvious, 'You've killed us all!'

'Then you'd better hope I've changed his mind about that', Steve said sternly, 'Now, tell me! Who are you?! Who do you work f-'

Steve was unconscious before he knew what had happened.  
Viper wriggled free of his weakening grasp.  
And saw Loki standing above Steve's sleeping form. He had knocked Steve out with a blow from behind.  
Viper staggered to her feet.  
Looking over her shoulder, she saw the Loki beside the sphere melt into thin air. An illusion.

'But, why-' she stammered.

Loki grabbed her by the throat and hoisted her off her feet.  
Her face began to redden with the pressure Loki was exerting.

'I made a promise', Loki growled.

He dropped her.  
She landed in a heap, coughing and gasping for air only to be lifted into the air by a phantom force. She struggled but her body was becoming numb. Soon, she was paralyzed, floating like a corpse in the ocean.  
Loki raised a hand and she began to move across the warehouse floor.  
Her eyes darted wildly and she screamed internally as she realised they were going back to the lab.  
Loki kicked open the door he had jammed shut with one, focused kick. It bent at the hinges and swung open mournfully. As expected, the tear gas had done its work then dispersed via the air vents.  
Loki steered Viper inside and smiled up at her.  
She could see the unconscious bodies of her men piled around Loki's feet. There was blood.

'It's important to keep promises', he mused, running a finger along a row of nearby chemicals, 'Do you know what I promised the soldier?'

Viper's head shook comically without her consent.

'I swore I wouldn't kill a single person here'.

Loki brought her down so she was looking into his eyes.  
Cold hatred swam in the green depths as he smiled at her with a smile that may as well have been made of metal.

'But I also made a promise to myself', he pronounced and green lightning erupted in his eyes.

Agony suddenly coursed through Viper's body: every bone was being hollowed out and crushed, limbs shrinking to nothing, her senses snuffed out one by one. She silently begged for death with a mouth that could no longer scream. Then she fell into a vast void where the world seemed to fall away as it grew impossibly.

'As far as I'm concerned, you're not a 'person' anymore', Loki said.

He bent down and picked up the writhing earthworm from the floor.

'You're not even a viper', Loki continued.

The worm dangled between his thumb and forefinger.  
It couldn't do anything else.  
Loki walked to the desk where a large ant farm was sitting beside a stack of folders.  
He easily opened the lid.  
Inside, black shapes scrambled over each other, their natural armour glistening in the sterile lab lights. There were hundreds of them.  
Loki dropped the worm inside and watched with satisfaction as nature took its course.


	9. Secret Part I

Leaving the ants to their horrifyingly logical way of life, Loki left the lab, not bothering to step over the supine guards on the floor.  
Walking across the warehouse floor, he noticed his sceptre lying nearby. Steve must have dropped it during the fight.  
It seemed to beckon Loki closer.  
Before he knew it, his fingers had closed around it.  
And the realm of Midgard vanished.  
Asteroids floated in space above a vast nebula, turning slowly as they cut a path across the stars.  
Loki swore as he realised where he was and became aware of another presence standing on the stone platform with him.  
The all too familiar wizened creature smiled with a mostly toothless mouth.

'The fallen prince returns', The Other said mockingly, robe rustling over the rocky surface as he moved, 'But not on your knees as expected'.

'Not as unexpected as your continued existence', Loki sneered, 'Or as unwelcome'.

'You think a pithy human thermo-nuclear device can harm Thanos' chosen?'

'I am allowed to hope'.

'You think so? You failed in your mission. Thanos is displeased'.

'Not that much if he sent _you_ to reprimand me'.

'I doubt your conviction. The sceptre is back in your hands and I saw the soldier lying helpless within your reach. Why does he still live?'

Loki felt a burst of anger. He could not identify the source but concluded it was most likely because of The Other's smug air of superiority.

'Maybe because you pulled me away for this little chat?!'

'Careful Trickster', The Other said, all pretence of humour dropped, 'You have a bad habit of over-reaching. It is a long way down should you fall'.

'Not if you have company!' Loki snapped.

As Loki reached for the grizzled advisor's throat, Midgard suddenly returned, the cold atmosphere of space receding as The Other dismissed him.  
He and Steve were still alone on the warehouse floor: like on previous occasions, no time seemed to have passed during his talk with The Other.  
Steve lay where Loki had left him, lying flat on his face.  
Loki looked at the sceptre in his hand.  
The blue energy crackled enticingly as the golden casing caught the light. Loki still admired it. Despite it acting as a surveillance tool for Thanos it was a beautiful weapon. Suitable for a king.  
He hastily shook his head.  
No! It was dangerous! He had picked it up because of the innate magic it held: it wanted to be used so it used telepathic suggestion to get others to pick it up. That was all! Just a cheap mind trick. But an annoyingly effective one Loki had not been able to figure out yet.  
Steve moaning drew Loki's attention back to where it should have been.  
The soldier was stirring.  
Loki walked around the prone body so he could see his face.  
Steve looked up at him with eyes that were still struggling to focus but he seemed aware enough of his compromising position.  
He was helpless. And Loki was unbound.  
Loki's eyes darted back to his sceptre.  
There was only one thing to do.  
Loki lowered the sceptre and reached down towards Steve.  
His hand never made contact.  
Before Loki knew what was happening, his hand was enclosed in something massive, strong and _green_.  
As he was raised off the floor, he wondered why he was suddenly covered in brick dust.  
He made the connection as he realised he was now dangling by one arm. He looked up and met the green eyes of the monster the humans called 'The Hulk'. Loki snarled and kicked out on reflex. It connected with the creature's chest and jarred Loki's leg. He gasped in pain and The Hulk just growled warningly as he shook a few brick fragments off his shoulders. Loki got the message and dropped the sceptre. Hulk kicked it away.  
Loki saw real SHIELD agents begin to flood in through the 'entrance' that The Hulk had just provided. The archer and Iron Man were with them, obsolete weaponry and not-so-obsolete weaponry raised.  
The other two so-called 'Avengers' went to Steve who was sitting up slowly, still dazed.  
They had a hushed conversation between them. Loki scowled as he saw the archer's eyes narrow suspiciously as he looked at him but Steve shook his head.

'Believe it or not, I am the injured party this time', Loki said coldly.

'The way you talk, you're always the injured party', Iron Man deadpanned, 'Do you have any idea who took you?'

'Or were you too busy gettin' your butt kicked to notice?' Hawkeye asked with a raised eyebrow and a smug little twist to the mouth.

Loki glared at him.  
To Hel with it.  
Let them figure it out for themselves.  
Why should he help them solve gaps in their primitive security systems?  
Without their commander, Hydra would not dare make another attempt. Judging from the multitude of Hydra operatives being led out of the warehouse in the background by SHIELD there wouldn't be enough left to do much of anything.

'I have no idea but I am debating which company I prefer', Loki shrugged.

'If you know anything Loki, you should tell us', Steve said, rubbing the back of his neck.  
There was a rather nasty bruise starting to colour his forehead.  
Loki gave a knowing smirk but said nothing.

'You owe me', Steve said simply.

Loki kept quiet and tried very hard not to laugh.  
Appealing to his personal honour?  
The poor soldier must have a concussion!

'Get him outta here', Hawkeye snapped, losing what little patience he had.

The Hulk obliged, clamping Loki's arms to his sides and carrying him outside to a van. A fitting chariot to convey Loki back to his fortress cell at SHIELD HQ.

'My head's still pulsing', Steve muttered, massaging his temples.

They were back in the room holding Loki's cell. Loki was amused at how reassuring it was to be back. So it _was_ true: home was a state of mind.

'She hit you with some kind of contraption', Loki said, 'I think it was the same one from before. I wasn't fast enough to stop her'.

'It's okay', Steve said, 'Thanks for helping me out. I thought you would've left me and chased her'.

'I was weighing up my options', Loki lied, 'You at my mercy or a hunt. Both were extremely tempting but I usually prefer the easy option'.

Steve sighed and crossed his arms.

'The others aren't here Loki'.

'My word, really?' Loki said, glancing around, 'The monster isn't hiding behind your chair?'

Steve laughed.  
It sounded so genuine that Loki stopped his pantomime searching motions.  
Why was the soldier smiling like that?  
Like they were _friends_ or something?!

'You don't need to put up the front', Steve said shrugging, 'We both know you weren't gonna fire that thing at me'.

Loki felt strangely embarrassed.  
No he hadn't intended to fire it.  
That would be too much of a red flag to Thanos. Loki would decide how his enemies died, not a wrinkled old golem like Thanos' advisor.  
But then, why hadn't he done something else?  
Snapped Steve's neck.  
Shot him with a Destroyer gun.  
Vaporised him with magic.  
As far as methods of murder were concerned Loki would had been spoilt for choice.  
But then why hadn't he?!  
Loki enjoyed contrariness but the advisor was right. Loki and Steve were enemies.  
You killed your enemies. Preferably after showing them what a bad idea it was to be your enemy.  
Then again…  
Steve had not behaved like an enemy: ensuring Loki was treated fairly, speaking up for him and most insidiously of all, being a genuinely nice person to him.  
He had even broken into the warehouse to save his life.  
Loki didn't like it. He wasn't sure how much more of Steve's understanding he could take.  
Especially since Steve had no idea that he was going to be a (hopefully) useful meat shield when Thanos came looking for Loki.  
Loki was not technically Asgardian but the issue of being in Steve's debt sat ill with him. In Asgardian tradition, he would have been expected to swear himself to Steve's service or perform an equal task to keep things fair between them.  
Then, perhaps… Loki should give Steve a fighting chance?  
After all, giving Steve information would make him a better distraction: he'd last longer.  
It was a far better reason to talk to Steve than Loki admitting Steve had killed a portion of Loki's disdain for him with kindness.

Steve was so intrigued with Loki's pensive silence that it surprised him when Loki abruptly spoke.

'I'm going to tell you something', Loki said stiffly.

'No need to say thanks', Steve joked, amused by Loki's begrudging tone, 'All in a day's work for Captain America'.

'Shut up and listen', Loki said sharply, 'Your autobiography says that the group Hydra were the ones who found the Tesseract in its hiding place on this planet'.

'Yes. They thought it was the key to world domination. Same as you'.

'It was never a key', Loki said darkly, 'It was a price to pay. I was to hand it over in exchange for the army I desired'.

'Who wanted-'

'It is fortunate I was paid in advance', Loki interrupted, 'For all of us'.

'Sorry Steve', Loki thought, 'You don't get that titbit'.

'What do you mean?' Steve asked.

'The cube and my sceptre use the same kind of energy and both are dangerous'.

'How dangerous?'

'In the wrong hands they can destroy planets. And if you think _my_ decisions are questionable you don't want to see the 'wrong hands''.

'Well sorry but you'll be keeping the cube company on its way to the right hands in Asgard'.

'I suppose my sceptre will be coming too', Loki asked in a light hearted way, despite the dread boiling in his stomach.  
There was no way in Hel that Odin was going to keep the Tesseract on Asgard: that cube would most likely be given to the likes of The Collector for safe keeping.  
It was the sceptre he needed to get away from.

'No', Steve replied, 'SHIELD want to run some tests on it first. Think it's best we keep it and you as far away from each other as possible. I still think it's a bad influence'.

'Probably for the best', Loki nodded, fighting down the sudden urge to whoop and cheer.

Yes!  
Despite the cell, he was free and clear!  
No more nightmares, no more constant dread, no more fear.  
He couldn't believe his luck: he had actually won for a change!

'Thor will be here tomorrow to transfer you to Asgard. Not gonna have any problems are we?'

'None from me Steve', Loki promised, not noticing his casual use of the soldier's first name.  
He was in far too good of a mood.

Steve smiled uncertainly: Loki's use of his first name was unusual.  
Was he actually grateful for being rescued or for Steve's belief in him?  
Perhaps Steve fighting beside him had struck a chord. After all, he hadn't killed him when he was dazed. Steve wasn't naïve enough to believe Loki was a good person but perhaps it was too low even for him to attack someone who was helpless. Someone who had helped him and treated him like a person.  
Maybe it was a way to part on amicable terms or merely a slip of the tongue.  
Or more likely it was just a way for Loki to mess with his expectations or get him to lower his guard.  
As Steve left, he made a mental note to keep his guard up the next day.  
He didn't know what Loki had done to the female commander but he knew he hadn't let her go. It had been very convenient that Steve had been incapacitated and not witnessed what Loki had done. He didn't remember the woman hitting him with anything at the warehouse and he had none of the sensations he had experienced previously.  
Steve was an optimist but he wasn't stupid.

Loki cried out in pain.  
He jammed a hand over the rising bulge in his neck as warm blood leaked between his fingers. Thanos was holding him a telekinetic grip that exerted more pressure on him than the Hulk's had. It felt like he was trying to pull something (Loki did not know what) loose. Loki had simply assumed this was another nightmare until the searing pain had begun.  
Suddenly he felt the stomach churning sensation of his skin tearing and saw a metallic object hovered in the air.  
Loki fell to his knees as Thanos stopped holding him and coughed as his regenerative abilities struggled to staunch the blood flow and repair the gash in his neck that Thanos had caused.  
Thanos watched Loki gasp with distaste before turning his attention to the small object rotating slowly in the air in front of him.

'A primitive tracking device', The Other appraised from his position beside Thanos' throne, 'Like those they use to tag their dogs'.

Thanos coldly watched Loki gurgle and try to staunch the blood from his neck.

'A fitting ornamentation', he said, 'He whines so piteously and bites the hand that tries to feed him. Perhaps you were right all along'.

'I was my Lord', The Other wheedled, 'You have so many other, more _robust,_ servants. What use is this runt to you? Passed between captors like a whore at one of Asgard's banquets!'

'I tried to escape!' Loki cried desperately, 'Using sympathetic agents but-'

Thanos gave a booming laugh. Loki cried out in additional pain as it thundered inside his head.  
Thanos knew he was lying. No tricks could work on him.  
The only option now was to hope Thanos did not drag out his death.

'I wonder if he could manage a simple task?' Thanos mused in a faux conspiratorial tone, 'For his master?'

Loki, feeling the sticky wound on his neck finally closing over, stood up.  
He said nothing.  
If he was no use, then why was he still alive?  
Was it really because it amused Thanos? To see him scared and helpless?!  
Just get it over with!  
Thanos could crush him with a thought! How could such a powerful being be so petty?!  
The irony of his position made him feel physically sick or perhaps that was the terror at being the full focus of Thanos' attention. It was made worse that Thanos was obviously relishing the irony.  
The granite like figure rested his chin on a massive hand and smiled with teeth like tombstones.

'You do not object then? Very well. I command you to amuse me 'Dog-Who-Would-Be-King'. Kill one of those who defeated you'.

Loki swallowed the gasp brewing in his chest, trying desperately to remain impassive.

'Or at least try to. You may choose which one', Thanos said, waving his other hand, 'My advice is, avoid the green one'.

The Other cackled knowingly and Loki shot him a venomous glance.

'All I ask is that you make a genuine effort,' Thanos said, in a perversely paternal tone, 'I will know if you don't. Consider it a test of _loyalty_ '.

At an incongruous finger flick from Thanos, the floating tracking device impacted with Loki's forehead like a speeding bullet.  
His head snapped back and he fell onto a soft surface.  
He shot up and realised he was back in his cell, the bedsheets stuck to his sweat streaked body. He felt his forehead and found no impact. But in his other clenched fist, he realised he held the tracking device. He ran a hand shakily over his face and flung the device to the other side of the room.  
He fought back tears of sheer fatigue and frustration.  
How was he to accomplish such a task?! When he had already failed with an army at his back?!  
The Avengers would kill him without hesitation! They were on guard even if he looked at them in a manner they deemed disagreeable.  
And if he fought one, he would have to fight them all! They might even take turns extracting their personal vengeances!  
Unless…  
Loki's mind began to race as an idea began to form. Thanos had given him a choice and he would use it. As long as he had leeway to manoeuvre he could win: walk the spaces between the words to find a narrative that suited him.  
He would have to do it before he was transferred to Asgard as planned.  
That left very little time.  
Too little time to muse about the morality of his decision.  
Loki made his choice.  
The choice that would keep him alive.  
Or kill him in the attempt, just like Thanos wanted. 


	10. Secret Part II

'Ready when you are Cap'.

Steve wasn't surprised it was only SHIELD agents waiting to go in and get Loki for transportation.  
He knew the other Avengers were busy setting up routes and scoping out potential exits Loki could take advantage of should he decide to fly the coop once he got outside. Thor was in a diplomatic meeting with Asgard, explaining what had happened the day before. Judging from the gathering storm clouds but lack of actual thunder or lightning, it was going okay so far.

'At ease soldier', Steve said to the agent that had spoken, 'Probably best if I go in alone'.

'Inadvisable sir', the agent said, shaking his head.

'Acknowledged but I think he might be more co-operative if it's just me', Steve explained, 'He gets antsy when he thinks he's being strong armed'.

He noticed some of the ten strong agents exchanging uneasy looks despite the four destroyer guns on standby.

'You really think you know how he thinks?'

Fury's voice cut through the nervous chatter easily.  
Steve walked back to join him at his position beside the camera feed monitors. He saw they were still playing the loop that the infiltrators had planted. Whatever they had done seemed to have frozen the system.

'Hasn't hurt me so far', Steve said, not meaning to sound as cocky as he did.

'Let's face it Captain, your little heart to hearts ain't exactly been helpful. Everything useful we've found out about him we found out when he was knocked out'.

'Maybe', Steve conceded, 'But yesterday he started to open up. I think I can persuade him to tell me more. He owes me'.

'Am I missin' something here?!' Fury asked incredulously, 'He nearly blasted you to kingdom come yesterday!'

'I told you, he was reaching down to help me up', Steve said patiently, 'One thing he did show us was that you have one hell of a security problem'.

'Are you implying that these agents can't be trusted?' Fury asked in a hushed tone, eyes flashing.

'No', Steve said calmly, 'I'm saying that this is the last chance I have to learn who was really behind the invasion so I have to make a compromise. Loki doesn't trust SHIELD but he might trust me. What have we got to lose?'

Fury swore and shook his head but gave up arguing. In less than an hour, Loki would no longer be his problem anyway.

'We have to turn the machine that controls his powers off', he said, 'Asgardians want it returned along with Loki and it needs time to cool down before we move it. You'll be in there alone. Lock the door behind you. Use the keycard to get out when you're ready'.

'Same as when we were in the gym', Steve said, 'He didn't try anything then'.

Fury handed him a pair of metal bands. Steve saw they were engraved with writing he did not recognise.

'Get these cuffs on him. Should contain his powers until we get him to the rendezvous point'.

Loki was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed under him when Steve entered.

'Time to go Loki. Loki? You asleep?'

Loki's eyes slowly opened.

'No. Thinking', he said, standing up and stretching.

'About what?'

'This and that', Loki shrugged.

Steve thought Loki's subdued stance was understandable. Here it was: crunch time. He wondered if the prisoner was nervous. Thor had said Odin would spare his life but according to both Thor and Loki, the old god had a bit of a temper. It wasn't any of Steve's business but he had always personally disapproved of capital punishment and executions. He swiped the key card through the slot beside the door he had just come through. It locked tight and would remain so until Loki was wearing the cuffs. Steve noticed the Asgardian machine was no longer glowing. That meant Loki had noticed too.  
He kept his guard up as he approached.  
The glass partition, controlled by someone on the outside, slid up automatically.  
Loki stayed in his cell, watching Steve come closer.

'I've been thinking too. At Stark's tower you didn't even put up a fight when we cornered you after the portal closed'.

'The monster bruised more than my pride', Loki said, 'Sneaking away was not an option at that point. You were more than happy to accept my surrender at the time'.

Steve took out the handcuffs. Loki nodded in understanding.

'What's coming Loki?' Steve asked, 'I played your game. I told _you_ things. I came to save your life at that warehouse. It's time for some payback'.

'Yes. It is', Loki acknowledged, clasping his hands to allow Steve to cuff him.  
Steve placed the cuffs on Loki's thin wrists but was distracted by Loki's fingers. They were moving strangely, like he was cricking his knuckles. He looked up and saw Loki had his eyes closed.  
They opened and Steve was blinded by green light.

'Are you alright?' Peggy asked.

Steve blinked.

'Peggy?'

Peggy's brown eyes twinkled as she smiled at him.

'Who else would it be?' she asked, her brown curls bouncing as she tilted her head playfully.

She folded her arms. She was wearing a white shirt and the brown pencil skirt that Steve knew she secretly hoped showed off her legs.

'How are you here?'

Peggy took his face in her hands.

'Does it matter?' she whispered.

Steve shook his head. He felt weird: like there were cotton balls filling up his head. It was warmer in the cell than he remembered.  
Yes…he was in…a cell.  
With someone. Someone important.

'Someone important huh?' Peggy asked and Steve realised he had been mumbling to himself.

She tickled his chin.

'Who's that huh?'

'You', Steve replied, his mouth seeming to move on its own.

'That's right. Always just you and me. Just like it used to be'.

Steve smiled at that.

'Yeah', he said softly.

Except…no.  
They hadn't always been together. Usually they had been on separate missions. He had missed her. Missed her touch and her voice.  
This wasn't right.  
Why couldn't he think straight?!  
He couldn't recall a firm memory of them together. So he made up a fake one.

'You remember that time I got drunk?'

'Of course I do', Peggy laughed, 'You made a right spectacle of yourself too'.

Steve's head was clearing.  
He couldn't get drunk. Peggy knew that. Everyone who knew him did.  
He felt anger beginning to bubble up from somewhere deep and dark inside him.

'And do you remember when we went dancing?' Steve asked, taking her hand.

'How could I forget?' Peggy smiled, 'Shall we?'

She took both his hands and tried to lead him into the centre of the room. Towards the door.  
Steve didn't move.

'What is it Steve?' Peggy asked, concern in her voice.

Steve placed both hands on Peggy's shoulders and ran his hands along her arms.  
He looked at her, eyes scanning her face hungrily, as if seeing her for the first time.  
Peggy's eyes widened with worry at the sudden searching gaze.

Steve felt as lonely as he felt sickened. He wanted nothing more in that moment to hold her. To tell her everything he had ever wanted to.  
But it wouldn't be true.

'I missed you', Steve said, his voice cracking.

'But I'm here now', Peggy said soothingly.

Steve grimaced and sniffed.

'No', he stated, 'You're not'.

Peggy was in a hospital bed: he was supposed to visit her that Wednesday.  
Blinking back tears, he punched hard.

Loki staggered and Steve punched him again.  
The keycard Loki had taken from Steve's pocket fell to the ground. Steve kicked it behind him so it was out of Loki's reach.  
It shocked Steve how much effort it took not to punch Loki again.

'Why did you do that?' Steve demanded quietly, clenched fists shaking, 'How could you- why did you?!'

'I had hoped to kill you quickly', Loki said, cheek red from Steve's punches, 'But if fight we must…'

Steve gave a grunt of surprise as he felt a sudden stabbing pain in his side. He had barely registered Loki's swift underhand throw. He fell as dead weight, clutching the end of the sharpened wooden sliver that had done the job. It was embedded in the lower left side of his abdomen.  
Loki waved to get his attention before kneeling down and lifting the blanket from the bed. Steve saw where the wooden frame beneath the mattress had a thin but noticeable layer broken off.

'You fool', Loki derided, 'Instead of dying in blissful ignorance, you choose to die in failure. And they say humans are an intelligent species'.

Dropping the blanket and satisfied with his demonstration, Loki adjusted his coat as he straightened.

'Just…tell me', Steve croaked, 'Why?'

'Because why not?' Loki laughed, 'Satisfying your curiosity soldier is more than my life is worth and let me assure you it's worth a great deal to me'.

Turning his attention to the keycard, Loki began to move towards it, stepping over the downed Captain as he walked.

He was about to pick it up when he felt hands on his shoulders. As he reached to grab them, he was spun around and thrown. He staggered a few feet back into his cell and stopped.  
Steve was pulling the thin sharpened piece of wood out of his 'stomach'. He snapped it in half and lifted his t-shirt. Loki recognised what was underneath: a stab proof vest.  
Steve had worn the vest as a precaution in case of other enemy agents. He hadn't expected it to come in useful but being over cautious had paid off.

'You hit a bit harder than she did', Steve said, cricking his neck, 'Stark interrupted us in Germany. Ready for round 2?'

Loki's smile was all teeth as he leapt forward and suddenly the room was full of Lokis. They encircled him, jeering and mocking.  
Steve closed his eyes and listened for the footsteps. Loki had said it himself: the illusions had no weight.  
Besides, Loki was easy to predict: he usually attacked from behind.  
As soon as he heard the quiet scuff of a boot on the floor behind him, he reached back and threw Loki over his shoulder.

Loki didn't understand it.  
During their bout in Germany, he had easily outclassed Captain America!  
Loki knew the illusionary glamour he has cast had taken a lot of concentration and effort but the soldier still should not have been a challenge.  
As Loki struggled to rise, Steve yanked his arm behind his back and exerted pressure on Loki's wrist and elbow.

'How?!' Loki snapped, 'Where has this strength come from?!'

'I've been working out and you're not in top condition. Physically or mentally. Besides…'

Loki stopped struggling with a gasp of pain and Steve raised him to his feet.

'You should have stayed out of my head', Steve concluded and rammed Loki against the wall.

Loki groaned at the impact and spat a gobbet of spittle onto the floor.

'You're heavier than you look', Steve grunted, watching as the idle clones faded away.

'Than _I_ look?' Loki said and Steve heard the sadistic pleasure in his voice.

Loki's form changed again and Steve swallowed a swear word in horror as he recognised Loki's new, borrowed face.  
It was Bucky.  
But not Bucky's smile.

'Knock it off!' Steve warned, yanking Loki away from the wall and twisting his arm again, 'I don't want to hurt you! I didn't come to you looking for a fight!'

'Pity', Loki sneered as he dropped the illusion, 'One's certainly found you'.

Kicking his foot out behind him, he caught Steve's shin. The kick was enough to undermine Steve's balance and Loki used his knees to quickly push himself up into Steve's chest.  
The two went flying backwards. Steve's back collided with the wall and the impact was enough for him to loosen his hold on Loki for the briefest of moments.  
Which was all Loki needed.  
Wrenching his wrist free, Loki grabbed Steve by the throat with both hands and began to physically lift him from the floor. Steve braced himself and realised (at the same time as Loki) that the fingers around his neck were struggling to get good purchase. Steve saw Loki visibly sweating with the effort and thrusting his arms inside Loki's grip, broke it by moving his own arms outwards.  
Loki aimed a punch at Steve but it was weak and uncoordinated. As Steve tried to grab his fist, Loki turned his whole body and with a laugh, threw a proper punch with his alternate hand. It collided with Steve's cheek and he tasted blood in his mouth.  
Loki used both hands to push him as he staggered.  
Steve landed on the bed with enough force to roll over the surface and fall off the other side. Loki tore a length of material from the blanket cover and began to wind it between his hands. Steve grabbed the bed, tipped it over and pushed it. It slid across the floor and Loki was forced to jump over it to avoid getting hit. Steve used the distraction to close the distance, ignoring the blanket tangling in his feet.  
He grabbed for Loki and ran right through an illusion.  
He felt coarse material slip swiftly onto his neck as Loki began to strangle him from behind with the blanket section. This time it was working: Steve felt the pressure building behind his eyes as Loki tightened.  
Steve jerked his head back and was rewarded with the dull pain of impact. Loki spat a curse he didn't recognise. Clasping both hands together, Steve drove his left elbow into Loki's stomach. He missed but the blow to Loki's hip staggered him enough that his grip on the material weakened. Steve tore it from his throat and ripped it in half.  
Loki stumbled back and Steve, turning on his heel and using his momentum, shoulder slammed his opponent into the opposite wall. Loki fell forward onto his knees hair matted and clinging. Steve stopped dead, arms raised in a classic boxer's stance, in case Loki was about to attack him from his lower position.  
The expected attack didn't come.

Loki spat onto the floor, a faint tinge of red staining the pristine glass. His fingers dug into the floor, leaving claw like marks.

'Had enough?!' Steve asked, trying to get his breathing under control.

Steve watched Loki slowly ease himself back so he was resting against the wall. His cheek was red where Steve's head had connected. He too was breathing heavily, nose leaking a thin trail of blood.  
Loki's skin began to darken to its natural blue shade for a moment but Loki gave a brief tremor and his 'human' skin tone returned. His red eyes met Steve's as they turned blue once more.

'I could do this all day', came the ragged response.

Steve's eyes widened.  
How many times had he said that?  
How many times had he ended up in some alley bruised and bleeding as a result?

'What the hell was that about?!' Steve asked angrily, keeping his arms up.

'Why the surprise?' Loki asked wearily, 'Your compatriots won't be shocked'.

Steve sighed angrily as he dropped the fighting stance. Both he and Loki knew their undignified scrap was over. Loki tore another scrap from the blanket lying on the floor and held it to his nose.

'I don't understand you', Steve said, 'Why do you make things so hard for yourself? You could've just walked out that door and been back to Asgard by now. Why fight now?'

' _Why don't you just kill me now?'_ Loki thought, _'Most others would have but not you'._  
It was ironic; Steve condemning him to a worse death through mercy.  
But then… if he was going to die either way, why had he even attacked Steve?  
Because he knew he stood a chance of winning? Steve's guard would be down and he had dominated him in Germany. No, that was just a decision he had made based on the order he had been given.  
He had attacked Steve because Thanos ordered him to. He hadn't even thought about disobeying. That wasn't like him. Thanos was terrifying. He was more powerful than any being Loki had ever seen or imagined.  
But… hadn't all his enemies seemed that way once? No matter how big the foe, Loki had never submitted. It had earned him enough thrashings but to do otherwise would have been to acknowledge they were better than him.  
He had been many things in his life. He had not considered a coward to be one of them.  
But here he was. Acting like the dog Thanos assumed he was.  
Biting the hand of the one person who had treated him with any dignity.  
There was genuine confusion and anger in Steve's eyes.  
Loki had actually hurt him.  
To his utter astonishment, it made him feel ashamed.  
How many times had he seen that look in his own reflection? When he had been beaten by others who seemed to resent his very existence. Been beaten by those he believed were his friends?

'Once there was a boy', Loki said quietly, 'Weak and ignored, he resented the mocking glances of his peers. He aspired to be better than all of them. He wanted them to stop laughing. So he gained more power than he could ever dream of. But it did not make him happy. It was lonely'.

Loki glanced up at Steve.  
Steve was watching him warily but he was listening.  
So Loki continued.

'Sometimes he wants to go back to the way things were. When things were simpler. Then other times, usually when it's dark and quiet, he thinks about ending it all. Just letting go and drifting away'.

Loki paused to swallow and licked his lips.

'Like he should have done when he chose to die. But someone reached down and pulled him out the nightmare. They took his choice _away_ from him. So he fights. He fights and fights even though he is sick and tired and feels too old. Because to do anything else would be to admit defeat. To admit that despite all his power, he still feels as weak and helpless as he ever did and the world is still an unforgiving place which only rewards the strong'.

Loki passed a hand over his face and sighed.

'Truth or lie?' he asked.

'It's true', Steve said.

'For whom?' Loki prompted.

Steve frowned but heard there was no mockery in Loki's voice. Just a sad undercurrent that matched his small, rueful smile.

'Us', Steve said quietly.

Steve rubbed his face with both hands and shook his head.

'I fought because I realised it was my last chance to', Loki said, slowly beginning to stand, 'And I wanted a chance of winning'.

'More like you'd thought I'd go easy on you', Steve said.

'I hoped you would know when to stop', Loki thought.

Steve sighed harshly, rubbing his neck in frustration at Loki's silence.

'There really is nothing more to this is there?' he said, 'The whole Chitauri invasion really was just you. Death or glory huh? Just like that fight just now'.

'Once again the tone of surprise', Loki said, throwing up his hands incredulously. He winced as he jarred his shoulder.

'Not surprise', Steve said coldly, 'Disappointment'.

'Disappointment?!' Loki cried exasperated, 'What have I done to make you believe I care about anything else than my own skin?!'

'You didn't kill me yesterday when you had the chance'.

'I just tried to rectify that', Loki said gesturing at the debris from the battle.

'No… you didn't', Steve said, his mind suddenly racing.

'Well, obviously I didn't succeed', Loki said, waving a hand dismissively.

'Yeah, why is that? My guard was down. Why didn't you try a neck shot? Or one of my eyes?'

'I don't know', Loki shrugged.

'No. When you decide to kill someone you don't mess around. And, even if you had killed me, you would've had nowhere to go! You don't want to kill me. You just want to go home. That's what this whole little game has been about but now you go and jeopardise it? You're scared. You never tried to escape because you're _afraid_. In here, you're protected and you'll be even more protected when they take you to Asgard. Don't play the tough guy Loki. It's the biggest lie you've told me yet and the worst thing is I think you actually believe it'.

Loki was going to hurl a cutting comeback. One of his usual barbs to deflect Steve's theory.  
But he found he couldn't.  
He didn't feel tough. He felt sore and confused. Looking down at his ruffled clothes and feeling his body ache, he knew he was running on empty.

'You're wrong', he said, 'I am far beyond the luxury of self-delusion soldier. There's nowhere left to run'.

'Who are you running from Loki? Who told you to kill me?'

Loki looked up at him impassively.  
If there was nowhere left to run, there was also nothing left to lose.

'Thanos', Loki said simply.

'Who's Thanos?'

Loki burst into hysterical laughter.  
The question was so ludicrous! The people on Earth had no conception of the horror in store! The horror he had lived with for months!  
It felt good to tell Steve: to rob Thanos of the element of surprise! He wasn't as powerless as everyone thought after all. A dog could bite back hard if the owner wasn't wary after all. Now he felt like himself again! Taking those who thought themselves untouchable down a notch: this was Loki! God of Mischief reborn!  
He no longer cared about Thanos' threats: let him kill him! Odin could very well kill him anyway! Hadn't he tried to kill himself once?!  
Saving him had been Thanos' big mistake.  
Getting his laughter under control was not easy seeing the confusion on Steve's face but with effort, Loki stopped and, wiping his eyes, answered Steve's question.

'Thanos is the reason I didn't just walk out of this cell the minute their backs were turned, the reason I agreed to be taken to Asgard with those lovely security systems and Heimdall's eyes on everything'.

'Is Thanos a person like a human or Asgardian?'

Loki laughed bitterly which gave Steve all the answers he needed.

'What does Thanos want?'

'I don't know but I know we're all going to die. By letting Thor take me to Asgard I, at least, will die later. If I'm very lucky Odin will execute me the minute I walk through the doors. Or Ragnorok will hit before Thanos reaches Asgard. At least I know what to expect from _that_ apocalypse'.

'If he's that bad, you know you can't fight him on your own'.

' _Fight him?!_ ' Loki practically screamed, 'I'm not fighting him! With or without help. Don't worry though, I don't have any reason or plan to help him either. Does that make you feel better?'

'You're just pathetic you know that?!' Steve snapped.

'Finally exhausted your boundless patience have I?'

'You could do so much good if you weren't such a goddamn coward', Steve growled.

Loki raised an eyebrow at Steve's stronger language. He truly had touched a nerve then. Intriguing: taunting him had minimal effect. It was the fate of others he was concerned about.

'So to you, bravery is getting myself killed for Asgard or Earth? Getting yourself killed?!' Loki asked, 'Why should I die for two planets that want me dead?! No! I choose my own fate!'

'I don't understand the choices you make', Steve said, defeated, 'Every time you've had a chance to do the right thing you haven't. Every time someone tries to reach out to you, you reject them. It's so-'

'Alien?' Loki interjected sardonically.

Steve gave a humourless bark of laughter and rubbed his eyes wearily.

'Human', Steve corrected.

Loki said nothing but sighed and slowly offered his wrists clasped together. Picking up the cuffs, Steve put them on Loki and fastened them shut. They hummed with Asgardian magic and runes engraved in the metal glowed gold.  
Steve moved behind Loki and, placed a hand on his shoulder. Loki flinched at the pressure and Steve swapped to his other shoulder. Steve began to gently guide him towards the door and opened it with a slide of the keycard.  
The SHIELD agents moved in to take over guardianship of the prisoner. Loki didn't look at any of them. Fury raised his only visible eyebrow at Steve's dishevelled state but returned Steve's subtle nod confirming he was okay.

'Goodbye Captain America'.

Loki's voice was so soft that Steve wasn't sure he had actually heard it. By the time he realised Loki had actually spoken, he was gone, being led up the stairs to the transport van waiting to take him to the rendezvous point in Central Park.

Later that day, Steve was leaning on a railing by the harbour, watching the rose streaked clouds pass overhead. Behind him, the warehouse where Loki had been held stood with a fresh Hulk shaped hole in the wall which a construction crew were trying to patch.  
The transportation to Asgard had gone off without a hitch. Evidently Loki had truly had enough of shenanigans.  
Steve had not approved of the muzzle but he conceded that Loki owed Barton some indignity of his own. Just before Loki had taken hold of the cube and been transported home, their eyes had met for a fraction of a moment. Neither had blinked.  
Steve heard Fury come up behind him and nodded in greeting as he joined him.

'Well, is the world in danger?' Fury asked.

Steve took the doughnut which was offered out of a Krispy Kreme bag. He had typed up a report and sent it to Fury while he had been getting cleaned up after the scuffle with Loki. The man read fast. Steve didn't bother asking how Fury knew he would be here.

'World's always in danger. But not from Loki'.

'You think he's telling the truth about this Thanos character?' Fury asked.

'The truth is out there', Steve quoted.

Even as he quoted, Steve reflected that it wasn't right.  
The truth was not out there and it wasn't the same as reality.  
The truth was changeable, subjective and could be twisted any number of ways. It was a story people told themselves and everyone told it slightly differently.  
The only truth or truths that mattered were those you _chose_ to hold on to.

'X Files', Fury said, identifying the quotation, 'That's an old show now'.

'Not to me', Steve said.

'Who recommended that one?'

'Tony'.

It felt odd to use Stark's real name: Steve was still getting used to how informal things were in this century. But it was about time he started engaging with it. It was the only way to make peace after all.

'That stuff'll rot your brain', Fury said.

'Well why watch it when we can live it right?' Steve replied, finishing his doughnut, 'I'm guessing you've got a plan? Just in case Loki is telling the truth'.

'Keep our eyes on the skies. Anything big and nasty pokes it's head out, we shoot it'.

'Simple', Steve nodded.

'And effective'.

'If it's okay with you I was thinking I might take a vacation', Steve said, stepping back from the railing, 'See what else I've missed'.

'Sure, why not?' Fury shrugged, 'You been asleep for a couple of decades. Seems like that'd take it outta' ya'.

Fury's mobile phone began to ring.

'Excuse me Cap', Fury said and clicked it open.

Steve smiled and went to his waiting motorcycle. He picked up his helmet and fastened it tight, heedless of Fury's mounting concerns behind him.

'How can it be gone?!' Fury demanded, 'Site B was classified. I don't care if they were unidentified, they were obviously professional. Listen to me, if that sceptre gets in the wrong hands-wait a minute, wait a minute! Hey! Cap!'

Fury turned but Steve was already gone. Fury could hear the noise of his motorcycle growing ever fainter.

Fury selected Steve's number from his list of contacts and rang it.

' _This person's phone is switched off'_ , began the automated message.

Fury swore as he hung up the call.  
Overhead a magpie on a roof chattered in a way that sounded like laughter before taking flight, the dimming sunlight catching on its dark green wings.

END

CONTINUED IN: 'TO TAME A MAGPIE'


End file.
